


Brothers of the Sea

by TsunaNoble



Series: Umi no Musuko [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: 2 Person POV, Amnesia, Book 2: The Son of Neptune, Coincides with Chapter XXX Hazel, F/M, Magic, Once Upon a Time (TV) References, Shinto, Trust Issues, curse, legacy, roman gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 96,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4599015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsunaNoble/pseuds/TsunaNoble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several months ago, Percy Jackson, the Son of Poseidon went missing. And during this time his adopted brother Tsuna Noble has stopped at nothing in his attempts to find him.</p><p>After getting some clues from one of the most powerful beings in the world, Tsuna finally finds Percy.</p><p>However, in doing so Tsuna earns the wrath of a Goddess for going against her plans, and must pay a price.</p><p>Not caring, Tsuna forces Percy and his new friends, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang, to have him come along on their Quest to free Thanatos, and he must earn their trust along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part four of the Umi no Musuko series is here guys. I really hope you enjoy it. From this point out, I'll be following the Heroes of Olympus series. A lot of events that are canon will still occur, but mostly from the perspective of Tsuna and a few other characters.
> 
> The beginning of this story coincide with the middle of Son of Neptune, in Chapter XXX (30) Hazel.

             It’s raining today. Not that I should be surprised, being back in Seattle and all. It wasn’t that heavy of a rain, just a light sprinkle that Seattleites like me tend to not even notice. As I sat on a bench I leaned my head back and felt the rain hit my face. It felt nice and cool, relaxing.

            This is the first time I have let myself relax since I left Maine about two months ago. For months I have had absolutely no clues as to where my brother Percy Jackson has been. The only thing that kept me going was that I knew he was alive. Nobody from Camp Half-Blood has contacted me with any leads, not Annabeth or even Will. And then there were the monsters. Before I went to Maine they were harder to kill than usual, but now, it’s like they won’t die. I’ve been able to shake them several times, but I can barely go a day without more monsters finding me.

            I heard the caw of my traveling companion Yatagarasu, the three legged crow messenger of the Shinto Pantheon of gods. He was flying around, on the lookout for any signs of Percy or any monsters looming about. I really don’t have the patience to deal with any monsters today. I let out a small sigh and closed my eyes, thinking back to my biggest lead on Percy’s location.

            It was back when I was in Chicago. I was walking around, looking dead tired and practically starving. And then all of a sudden I was being followed by a group of high school cheer leaders. At first I didn’t even register that they were there. And then they started flirting with me. It was really creepy and just plain uncomfortable, especially when they started touching me and trying to be seductive.

“Sorry ladies, but I like someone else.” I told them.

“Oh don’t worry stud.” said who I assumed was the head cheerleader. She had dark skin and her hair was in corn row braids. “They don’t have to know anything. It can just be our little secret.” She placed her hand on my shoulder and got really close.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at her. “Get away from me.” I said pushing her off.

“Well,” she said as she brushed herself off. “Don’t say I didn’t try the easy way.”

“Easy way?” I asked.

            The cheerleaders started laughing before their bodies started changing. Talons grew from their fingers and their hair burst into flames. As they grew wicked sharp fangs, like a vampire’s, their legs began to change. Ripping the stockings they wore, one leg became like a donkey’s while the other became a misshapen lump of bronze. These cheerleaders were actually Empousa. No wonder they were trying to do…that…that’s how they hunt men, by seducing them. Yuck.

            This horde of Empousa started chasing me across the city. Their miss-matched legs clanked across the streets as they chased me. I had ended up killing them several times, but they instantly kept reforming within seconds from the dust they left behind. It was just like the Scythian Dracaena right before I went to Storybrooke.

            I must have had all the luck in the world that the streets weren’t all that busy today, otherwise the Mortals would have been in danger. But that is where my luck ended, because I was running on fumes, and even that was running out. Yatagarasu had my back, diving down in between the Empousa to distract them, slashing at the creatures with his razor sharp talons.

            The flame headed vampire women had chased me deep into the heart of Chicago. They backed me up against a wall, across the street from a pizza parlor, with a single person on the sidewalk patio reading a newspaper. With the Mist in place, he probably just saw me being cornered by a bunch of cheerleaders.

“Just look at him!” said one with dark skin. “Mm, mm. He just looks so good.”

“You got that right.” said another Empousa. “He looks good enough to eat.”

“You think I still don’t have some fight left in me, you freaks?!” I said, slashing the Kusanagi at the ones who came close, trying to scare them off.

“Looks like he wants to play rough.”

“I’m game with that.”

“Now, now, let’s be nice.” said the dark skinned one. She leaned a bit closer to me and sniffed the air. She let a breathy moan. “Oh my. I knew I smelt something good about you.”

“What is it sister?” I really don’t like the sound of this.

“He’s a virgin!” I was not expecting that. I felt my face heated up. Did she really need to scream it to the whole world?

“Virgin? Oh, they taste the best!”

“I call his heart!”

“Shut the hell up!” I yelled. “None of you are getting any closer, unless you want your head chopped off.”

“I love a man with some fight in him.”

“Come on, hottie.” said the dark skinned one, her voice sounding calm. “Just drop your sword. And then we’ll show you a great time. Just, drop your sword and you can do anything your pure little heart wants to all of us.”

            Her voice, it was so compelling. I almost wanted to do what she said. But I knew better than to do what she wanted. I mean, they just said they wanted to basically rip out my heart and drink my blood. Besides, I think they believe that they’re the most attractive things on the face of the planet, and they are FAR from that. I already have a person that fits that description anyways.

            They had snuck closer to me, fangs and claws out, ready to tear me to shreds. I readied my sword and ran it through one of the donkey women’s stomach. As soon as her body turned into monster dust it started to reform. I killed two more while Yatagarasu tore at the face of their leader.

            Using the opening I ran to the other side of the street, Yatagarasu flying right next to me. I suddenly tripped, and when I looked down I saw vines from the decorative pots that lined the sidewalk tied around my legs. When I wondered why, I remembered what Annabeth once told me about Empousa.

“ _Remember, Empousa are servants of Hecate, so they can also use magic._ ”

            Groaning, I started to pry the vines off my legs. I really need to get a handle on magic. But ever since I left Storybrooke, I haven’t been able to use it. But at the moment, I was more worried about the un-killable Vampire donkeys coming right at me, and even if Yata rushed out and clawed their eyes out right now, I wouldn’t have enough time to cut through these vines.

“Having trouble?” That…That voice…it can’t be…

            Looking up, I saw it was the guy reading the newspaper. He put the newspaper down, and it was who I feared it was. Death. As in the Horseman, the Grim Reaper himself. I haven’t seen him since the day Percy disappeared. He just sat there, a slice of pizza in hand as he stared down at me.

“Uh, no, I can handle it.” I said, struggling to get the vines off.

“I can see that.” Death said. The vines squeezed tighter around my legs.

“Come here good looking!” yelled an Empousa as she lunged at me. I reared my legs up and kicked her high in the face. There was a nice satisfying crunch right when I hit her, I must admit.

“How many times have you killed them?” asked Death.

“Uh, I don’t know.” I said. “I’ve lost count.”

“I guess that would happen if they kept coming back.” he said. I heard a squawk come from Yatagarasu and saw him hit the ground roughly.

“Yata!” I cried.

“Ah, look who’s upset because we hurt his little birdy wirdy.” said the dark skinned Empousa.

“You bitch.” I said. I finally cut off the vines and stood up.

“Really?” Death said. “You’re still going to fight? You’re about to fall over from exhaustion.”

“Not that your concern isn’t appreciated, but I can’t waste my energy talking to you right now.” I said.

“I thought you were raised better than to be that rude Tsuna.” Death said. Oh God, I just pissed _Death_ off.

“Uh…” I started, not sure what to say.

“Come on sweetie, we’ll show you a great time, before we kill you.” the leader Empousa offered. “I know how you mortals don’t want to die without experiencing your first time.”

I nearly threw up a little in my mouth. “Disgusting. Why would I ever want to be with you in… _that_ way you ugly, misshapen freaks?!”

            That…probably was not the smartest thing for me to say to them. Their flaming hair practically blew up, sending a small inferno blazing upwards. They all lunged at me at the same time. I readied myself, but they froze in midair.

“Forgive me, but I need him alive.” Death said. The veins of the Empousa bulged across their bodies and their eyes were sinking to the back of their heads.

“Whoever you are, you can’t kill us.” said the dark skinned Empousa. “Not with the Doors opened by our patron.”

“Oh I know all about the status of the Doors.” Death said. “But what I kill stays dead, there’s no way around that.”

“What are you talking abo-” started one of the Empousa.

“Goodbye.” Death snapped his fingers, and all the Empousa instantly turned to dust. I stared at the piles of remains, waiting for them to reform, but they didn’t come back. Their dusty remains blew away in the wind. “Well, that was tedious.”

I scooped up Yatagarasu and checked him over for injuries, but he was just unconscious. “Thanks.”

“I won’t be there to save you every time Tsuna.” Death said. “I have much more important matters to deal with.”

“I didn’t ask for help.” I said as I took a seat across from him. He rolled his dark eyes at me and put a slice of his pizza on a spare plate.

“Eat boy.” Death said. “You’re going to need your energy to return home.”

“Home?” I asked. “I’m not going home. I still have to find Percy.”

“Your brother has a significant part to play in coming events. You do not.” Death said. “What’s going on is a Greek issue, not a Shinto one.”

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?” I asked. Death stayed silent. “No disrespect, but I am not gonna do what you say. My brother disappeared, and I’ll move Heaven and Hell to find him, and not a force on this planet, be it monster or god or even you, will stop me.” I stared Death right in the eye, unwavering in my resolve.

“Are you finished?” asked Death. He looked unimpressed.

“Yes…sir.” I said through grit teeth.

“Good.” Death said. “You’ll be needing that resolve of yours.”

“For what?” I asked.

“To find that brother of yours fool.” Death said. “Going on this self-enforced Quest of yours is going to interfere with the machinations of very powerful beings.”

“Would you care to tell me who these powerful beings are?” I asked.

“You’re smart. Figure it out.”

“Gee, thanks.” A waitress came out with a large deep dish pizza and set it down, and while I took a couple of slices and started digging in she returned with a large Cherry Pepsi, with real cherries in the drink.

“I hope you know that in doing this you’re going to be facing a lot of pain in the coming weeks.” Death said as he cut a piece of a pizza with a fork and knife.

I signaled him for more information, but he was busying himself with eating. “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

Death let out an annoyed sigh. “Let me put this into terms you can understand. If I tell you anything about your future, the events become fixed, no matter how much you try to fight and change them.”

“You could have just said ‘Spoilers’.” I said. Death rolled his eyes and continued eating.

“However, I will tell you this.” Death started. “In four days’ time, you can find your dear brother Perseus in the Emerald City.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, and after you find him, I need you to pass along a message.”

“For Percy?” I asked. Why would Death want anything to do with Percy?

“No.” he said. “For Thanatos.”

“Thanatos?” I asked. “Can’t you summon him on a whim? Like you did Bāchan and Anubis?”

“Thanatos is…” said Death. “A bit tied down at the moment, and he can’t be summoned. But his absence is causing a lot of trouble.”

“Wait a minute.” I said. “Does this have anything to do with the way monsters won’t stay dead?”

“That’s part of the problem, but yes.”

“But can’t you do anything?” I asked. “Like you did with the Empousa?”

“I tend not to interfere with these issues.” Death said. “I made an exception in your case, twice may I remind you, but after that I don’t plan on interfering.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because technically, it is unwise for different pantheons to come into contact with another.” Death said. “You saw how quick Zeus was to declare war on your Pantheon when the Orochi’s servants came to kidnap you.”

“Oh…yeah.”

“Now, enjoy your food while you can.” Death said. “This is the last time I’m going to help you.”

“Thank you.” I said politely.

“Good.” Death said. “Now here’s what I need you to tell Thanatos.”

            Yatagarasu cawed in my ear, drawing me out of my thoughts. He must have been worried about me. I reached up and rubbed down his back to assure him I was fine. After getting my ass saved by Death, it took me half a day to realize that when he said Emerald City he meant Seattle. I felt so stupid for just blanking out on that fact and assuming that Percy went to Oz (which, during my time in Storybrooke, I found out is a real place.)

            After a three day bus ride to Seattle I’ve been looking around nonstop. I mean, I should have thought of coming to Seattle a long time ago. If Percy was somehow dragged across the country by whatever took him in the first place, he should have come to Seattle because he knows it’s my home town. But if he has been here, why hasn’t he contacted anybody, or even try to come back home? But Death told me I’d find Percy here, and he has nothing to gain from lying to me…at least I think he doesn’t…

            I went deeper into the city, looking in every store, every restaurant, every nook and cranny that that would even have the remotest chance of having Percy in them. I showed people pictures of Percy and asked them if they saw him, but they never did. There were a couple of times that I saw someone from behind and I swore it was Percy, but when I ran up to them they weren’t my brother.

            After several hours I was exhausted. I was wet from the rain, which was going away to let the sun come out, making everything feel humid and just plain crappy. At this point, and I **_HATE_** to admit this, I practically gave up. There was absolutely no sign on Percy anywhere. I walked around aimlessly, not really paying attention to where I was going.

            I ended up collapsing on a bench again. I wiped my hands down my face and let out a loud sigh. Yatagarasu landed on my shoulder and rubbed his head against my cheek, but I didn’t do anything. Soon a shadow fell over me. Looking up I saw that I was sitting across the street from St. James Cathedral, one of the largest churches in all of Seattle.

I just looked at the building for a few minutes before letting out another sigh. “What the hell?” I stood up and started across the street. Once I was right about to go in I turned to my companion. “Yata, please wait out here for me. I’ll be out in a sec.”

            I pushed open the doors and went inside. It was a beautiful place, if I must say. Polished wooden pews lined the tiled floor. A series of white columns lead to the ceiling which looked like it could have been made with gold. In the back, beyond where the choir stood to sing were three stain glass windows.

            The church was practically empty. There were a few priests that greeted me when I came in, probably wondering why I was so wet. Other than that they ignored me. I made my way down until I was three rows from the front. I went to the middle of the third pew and sat. I looked at Jesus on the Cross and then the three stained glass windows. I didn’t know what else to do. I had no options left, but I had to try something.

“Um…” I started. “I really don’t know what to do here. I doubt you’ll even listen to me. I must be something hated by you, what with my heritage and all, something blasphemous.” I squirmed in my seat. “But I don’t know where else to turn. I need help to find my brother Percy, and not even magic helped. I’ve asked the gods for help countless of times, but even my prayers to my own grandfather, Poseidon, aren’t being answered. Someone is hiding him, someone powerful. What I’m trying to say is that I need your help. I know that you work in ‘mysterious’ ways, but I’ll accept any help that you can give. Just, please give me a clue, a sign to help me find Percy. Please…”

            As expected, nothing happened. I let out a breath and wiped my hands down my face. I stood up, muttering an ‘Amen’ as I walked out. Once I was outside I let out another sigh, feeling all hope just drain out of me. Yatagarasu perched himself onto my shoulder and chirped into my ear.

“I’m fine Yata.” I said. I put my hands into my jacket pockets I made my way through my hometown.

            I decided to get some coffee to cheer me up. And what better place in Seattle to get coffee than the first ever Starbucks? With a small smile on my face, I made my way to the pier, seeing Pike’s Place Market not too far away. If you’ve never gone to Pike’s Place, I highly recommend it. It’s extremely fun, and you can by all sorts of homemade crafts and the freshest fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood. Like, I don’t know if it’s still there, but every time I came with my Mom there was this booth that had little statues and figurines made out of the ash from Mt. Saint Helens. And there’s this one booth that sells seafood, and sometimes as a part of their little show they throw their fish at you when you buy it.

            On the other side of the street there’s this little cheese place, called Beechers, where they make the best Mac & Cheese. And not even a block away is the first Starbucks location in the world. Usually it’s so busy that there’s a line down the street and around the corner, so you’re lucky if you ever get in. Which I happened to be. It’s actually surprising.

            There was a line still, but it wasn’t bad at all. I ended up waiting behind a girl with cocoa colored skin, or maybe like a roasted coffee bean. Her cinnamon brown hair fell down to her shoulders, and was very curly. She was jumping on the balls of her feet, as if she was impatient or on a time restraint. Maybe she was on a lunch break or something. But after ten or so minutes of waiting the girl finally ended up at the Barista.

“Hi, welcome to Starbucks!” the Barista said in the company standard preppy tones. “What would you like to drink today?”

“Um…” The girl looked over the menu. “I would like a small black coffee with cream, a medium Caramel Macchiato, and…I think I’ll try that Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate in a medium please.”

“Okay then.” The Barista repeated the order and wrote on three cups. “And your name?”

“Hazel.”

“Beautiful name.” said the Barista. She typed the order into the kiosk. “Anything else you want?”

“Oh, let’s see…”

“Hurry up already!” yelled the man behind me.

I turned and glared at the man. “How about you learn some patience? She has a big order, deal with it.”

“Little brat.” he grumbled.

“Thank you.” The girl, Hazel, said.

“No problem.” I said. “I hate rude people.”

“What do you recommend?” Hazel asked me.

“Oh.” I said. “Well, their Grilled Cheeses are pretty good.”

“That does sound good, thanks.” I nodded at her. “Three orders of grilled cheeses please.”

“Okay, that will be twenty dollars.” said the barista.

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t have enough on me.” Hazel said. “Let me just go get some more from my friends.”

“Here,” I said as I stepped up. “I’ll pay for her.”

“Thank you, again.” Hazel said.

“It’s no problem.” I said, swiping my card. “Good Karma is great to build up, and I need as much as I can get right now.”

Hazel thanked me again and went to the receiving area. “So what would you like?” asked the Barista.

“Venti White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha, lots of whip, lots of chocolate please.” I asked. “And add an extra shot of expresso or two in there, if you could.”

“Sure thing.” She wrote my order down on the cup. “And your name?”

“Tsuna.” I said.

“Okay, that’ll be up in a minute.” she said after I swiped my card.

            I stood next to Hazel for about two minutes before her order was ready. She had a bit of trouble juggling everything, so as she made her way to the door I held it open for her. She thanked me again as she left. Not too long after my drink was ready. Thanking the baristas, I left the coffee shop, sipping on my warm drink.

            I walked around Pike’s Place, just soaking in the memories of the times when I came here with my mom.  Deciding to have another look around the city, I climbed the hill up from Pike’s Place, past the Hard Rock Café. I spotted Hazel just up the block, talking to two boys. One of them had their back to me, but the other looked like a chubby Asian boy. They seemed to be in a tense conversation. I was going to just wave at her in greeting and walk away, but then the other boy turned around.

            It can’t be possible. After months of searching, with only the barest of clues as to where he was, standing before me. In my shock, my coffee slipped from my shaking hand and spilled onto the damp sidewalk. My entire body was shaking with grief, joy, anger, all sorts of emotions.

“Percy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	2. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short. I tried so hard to make this longer, but in the end it's as long as it needed to be, I guess.
> 
> Otherwise, please enjoy.

            I…I can’t believe it. Percy is right there, practically in arms reach. I stood on the sidewalk, frozen. I was filled with so many emotions that my body didn’t know what to do. People walked past me, ignoring me in my state of shock. I watched as Percy talked to that girl Hazel and that Asian guy. But, the thing is, if that is Percy, than why hasn’t he contacted me? I might be seeing things, due to the exhaustion, but I knew deep down that the person I was looking at right now was without a doubt Percy Jackson.

            I still stood there when they walked out of my sight. It took Yatagarasu pecking my on the head to knock me out of my stupor. I shook my head and started running after Percy. I weaved my way through the sea of people to catch up to my brother. Why is now that I found Percy people decided to flood the streets? I could just barely see Percy in the distance, and he was just getting farther and farther away.

“Yata.” I looked him right in the eye as he gripped my forearm. “I need you to follow Percy, keep a close eye on him. Stick with him until I can catch up, okay?” He chirped in response before flying off towards Percy. “Thanks buddy.”

            It was a bit harder than I had hoped to follow him. The people were being rude, not moving when I asked. And I was even being polite to them by using ‘please’. But like all big cities, I’ve noticed, the people are just plain rude, self-entitled, and completely full of themselves. If I wasn’t chasing Percy down, I would have started something.

            After following Yatagarasu for a couple of blocks I barely noticed Percy and the other two turning right at the corner. Keeping my eyes on Yatagarasu I decided to cut them off by taking a short cut through an alley way. I ran through it, ignoring the smell, ready to tackle Percy into a hug the moment I see him, and then yell his ears off for worrying everyone like this. His ears might bleed when I’m done with him. But, right at the moment I got to the other side of the alley I hit something solid and fell on my butt.

“The hell?” I yelled as I rubbed my head. I stood up and felt for what I hit.

            It was like some kind of invisible wall, a barrier that I couldn’t break through. I tried pushing against it, but whatever force that created it wasn’t going to be so weak that a mere push was going to bring it down. I really wished I could use the magic I was taught to bring it down, but ever since I left Storybrooke, I haven’t even been able to light a candle, much to my annoyance. At that moment Percy and his two companions started walking past.

“Percy!” I yelled, eyes wide. “Percy, it’s me!” I pounded on the barrier with my fists, trying to make as much noise as possible. But it’s like he couldn’t see or hear me, like I didn’t exist or I was outside his time stream…or something. I kept calling out to him as he walked passed. “Percy, please! Look at me!”

“You shouldn’t be here.” someone said from behind me.

            Twisting around quickly with my sword, the Kusanagi, transforming out of its ring form, in hand, I readied myself for a fight. I was expecting an Empousa or a Scythian Dracaena. However what I wasn’t expecting to see was a goddess standing before me. And my least liked goddess at that. Standing in front of me, a staff with a lotus flower in hand was the Queen of the Gods.

“Hera.” I said with annoyance. As I lowered my sword slightly, Hera was glaring at me like I was some type of pest, which, knowing her I probably was.

“What are you doing here, Shinto spawn?” she asked, her goat skin cloak billowing in the wind. She almost sounded like she was going to be sick when she said ‘Shinto’.

“I’m here for my brother.” I said. “And I assume that this,” I pointed over my shoulder at the barrier, “is your work. Do me a favor and drop it, Hera.”

“Insolent brat.” she said, glowing with power. “How dare you talk to me, the Queen of the gods, like that?!”

“It’s rather easy when I hate you.” I explained with a shrug. I stood up to Zeus; I can stand up to his bitch of a wife. “Now, are you going to drop this barrier Hera?”

            For a moment, her form started flickering and she grasped her head like she was having a head ache, her crown slipping off her head a little. Her chocolate brown hair turned to braided silver and her blue dress started shimmering like peacock feathers. She leaned on her lotus staff for support as she steadied herself. Once her form settled, she glared at me with such contempt.

“I’d prefer it if you would call me Juno, whelp.” she warned, power resonating in her voice.

“A bitch by any other name is just as annoying.” I said with a smirk.

Hera, or Juno, I guess (I don’t really care), flared her nostrils in her clear attempt to calm herself, adjusting her crown as she did so. “Cute.” she said. “Keep that up and see what happens.”

“Nice threat.” I said arms crossed. “I’ve heard worse from Nico when I had to wake him up early in the morning.”

“You want to get smited, don’t you?” sheasked.

“No, but I doubt you can really do anything to act on that threat.” I said.

“And why’s that?” Juno asked.

“Because of these.” I said, taking out the other two Sacred Regalia. “Even if they aren’t here in the same way you are, I’m pretty sure my gods won’t let you harm me.”

“Care to elaborate boy?”

“Amaterasu. Tsukuyomi. And Susanoo.” I started. “My Aunt, Uncle, and Father respectively. Their essences are in these Treasures.” I pointed at each respective Treasure. “And since they consider me the heir to the entire Shinto pantheon, I’m pretty sure they won’t let someone like you harm me.”

            Truth be told, I had no idea if this was true. Well, the essence part is true. It’s the protecting me part that I made up. But if it kept Queenie here from blasting me to atoms, then fingers crossed she buys this bluff.

However, instead of testing my lie, Hera gripped her lotus staff tightly in her hand. “You still cannot be here, I forbid it.”

“Oh, you forbid it.” I said. I let out a chuckle. “Since when has anyone ever actually listened to you?”

“Keep up that attitude, brat, and I might decide to take my chances against your Faded family.” Her Majesty said as she started to glow.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Is this something you really want to risk?”

“It just might be.” Hera said. “I can’t have you running about and ruining everything.” Uh oh. I should get out of here.

“Y’know what Hera, oh, I’m sorry. _Juno_.” I said with a mock bow. “I’m kinda busy at the moment, family reunion and all that. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I walked past her, deciding to stop wasting my time with this arrogant goddess. “I’ve been looking for Percy for months and nothing, not even you, your Highness, are going to stop me from catching up with him.”

“I should have anticipated your interference with my plans, abomination.” she muttered as I walked past.

I stopped walking. “Plans? What plans?”

            When I turned, her…Ju…whatever, the oh so perfect queen of Olympus couldn’t look me in the eye. Was she hiding something? As I stared at her, her eyes kept flicking to her left. The same direction Percy went in. Did…did she have something to do with Percy’s disappearance?

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Ever since you came into our lives, you have been nothing but a nuisance.” she said. “My husband should have destroyed you the moment you said you were a Shinto demigod, but _nnooo_ , Hades wanted a vote because you’re nice to his son, the little freak who shouldn’t even bother to try to belong anywhere.” She did not just insult Nico. “And now you’re going to ruin everything I have planned for Jackson.”

“Plans for Percy?” I started breathing heavily. “You did this? You… _kidnapped_ Percy?”

            It was all making sense. Percy was taken from Camp Half Blood, _the_ demigod safe haven. There hasn’t been a trace of him for six months. Not even Rumpelsti- I mean, Mr. Gold’s locator spell was able to find any trace of Percy, other than the fact that he was alive. And the queen of the gods would have more than enough power behind her to kidnap and hide my brother.

            I felt a vein throbbing in my temple. I have never felt so angry before. This outmatched the anger I felt towards Meiyo no Okami. My breathing became more erratic the angrier I got. I was nearly blinded by rage, so much so I barely remember seeing the Three Sacred Regalia glowing.

            With a loud, nearly primal scream, I turned around and thrust out my arms. At the same time Hera…Juno… whatever, flew through the air and slammed into a brick wall. I will admit that there was a nice satisfying crack when her head hit the wall. She dropped her lotus staff when she hit the wall and gave me a look of pure shock.

“How did you-?”

“WHY?!” I yelled. “Why, you insufferable little bitch?! Why did you take him away from his mother, his family? How could you take my brother away from ME?!” She didn’t answer; she just looked at me with shock and anger. I screamed again and raised my sword, putting it right against her throat, a few drops of her golden blood beading down her throat. “I don’t give a damn who you think you are, I will get answers from you, by any means necessary.”

Thunder roared and a thunderbolt slashed its way across the sky. “My husband will strike you down if any harm comes to me boy.” she said calmly, looking up at the sky.

“Because of you, what do I have to lose?” I said.

Hera stared at me all the way down to my soul, her eyes, despite their warm appearance, had a cold feeling to them. “I don’t have to answer to you boy.” she sneered, clearly over…whatever I did to her. “But your dear brother,” she rolled her eyes, “Is destined to help win an upcoming war.”

“War?” I said. “What war? Percy just won you the war against the Titans.”

“Like I said, it doesn’t concern you.” Hera (damn it!) I mean Juno said.

“Aren’t you the goddess of families?” I asked. She didn’t respond. “Percy is my brother. He is a part of my family. His mother and stepfather took me in as one of their own and adopted me. I will bring my family back together.”

“I will not let you interfere any more than you already have.” Juno threatened. The air was getting thick with her power, but I was not going to move to her threat.

“You think you’re all powerful, but I have very powerful friends, you’re Majesty.” I said. I was running on the emotions. “Death is even on my side.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Thanatos is missi-” Her eyes fell onto the silver ring on my left hand, which felt frighteningly cold, before her eyes went wide. “Where did you get that?”

“Where do you think?” I pressed the Kusanagi harder against her throat, and she actually looked scared.

            I could do it. I could end her right here, right now. At the moment, there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do. Let the consequences be damned. Hera-Juno must have been so scared that I could kill that she didn’t use any of her abilities. Thunder shook the earth and lightning flashed in the sky, Zeus’s warning not to do it.

            Soon another sound reached my ears. It brought me out of my anger enough to realize that it was the cawing of Yatagarasu. I looked up to see him trying to get my attention. I forgot that I sent him to follow Percy, so he must have been worried when I never caught up with him. Calming down, I looked back at Hera and saw the fear in her eyes.

“Mark my words and remember this Hera.” I said as I lowered my sword and backed off. “I _will_ get you back for what you have done, _after_ I reunite with my brother. So you better pray that you never see me again, because next time, I won’t be as forgiving.” With that, I turned and started to follow Yatagarasu, before looking back at her over my shoulder. “Oh, and before I forget; _NEVER_ insult Nico di Angelo in front of me again, if you know what’s good for you.”

I could feel the goddess glaring daggers at the back of my head before she appeared in front of me and grabbed me with a fistful of my shirt. “Now, heed _MY_ words boy.” she said. “Your interference is going to cost you dearly. You think you’re miserable now, wait until I’m done with you.”

Glowering at the goddess, I grabbed her by the wrist. “I think I can handle it.” I pushed her off me and continued on.

“Tsunayoshi.” Juno called out.

“What now?!” I yelled.

She smiled at me, a cruel smile that is. “Since I can’t seem to persuade you, here’s a fair warning. Try to keep your Shinto lineage to yourself. Otherwise…well…who knows what could happen.”

“Do you wanna know something Juno?” I asked. “You gods use us demigods to kill monsters and go fetch your little trinkets. But in the end, with the way you treat us, your family, you end up being worse than the monsters you want us to kill.”

            After her warning, which makes absolutely no sense, and leaving her silent, I followed Yatagarasu through Seattle. I ran through the busy streets of my home town, watching the skies for Yatagarasu. In a few minutes I saw Yatagarasu flying in circles over a store. The smell of freshly made chocolate was lingering in the air, so it must be a chocolate store.

            Right as I rounded the corner I saw Percy leaning against a bike rack munching on the sweets. That girl Hazel and the other boy were still with him, talking about something I couldn’t make out at my distance. I practically fell apart with relief that Percy was safe. Unable to control myself any longer I ran to him.

“Percy!” I called.

            Percy looked around for a second before I tackled him into tightest hug I have ever given. He dropped his candy as I pressed my face into his shoulder. He must have been as relieved as I was. I was crying so hard with tears of joy that his jacket was getting soaked.

“I found you.” I cried. “I finally found you.”

            Giving Percy a squeeze I pulled back. I grabbed Percy’s face in my hands and saw that he wasn’t hurt, which I shouldn’t be surprised at, since he has the Curse of Achilles after all. Ignoring the look on his face I slid my hands down to his shoulders.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you.” I said. “Thank the gods you’re safe.” I pulled him close into another tight hug. “I thought I would never see you again.” Percy gripped my biceps and pushed me off of him. “Percy?” He was giving me a quizzical look.

“Do I know you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	3. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys, I hope this longer chapter makes up for it.

            ‘Do I know you?’ That echoed throughout my mind over and over and over again. ‘Do I know you?’ ‘Do I know you?’ ‘Do I know you?’ I looked over at Percy like he was crazy, but he gave me the exact same look.

“Percy, it’s me, Tsuna.” I said, gripping his arms tighter. “Please tell me you’re just pulling my leg. For the love of God, please tell me you’re just joking.”

The Asian boy grabbed Percy and pulled him away. “Do you know this guy Percy?” He stood between me and Percy, blocking me from my brother.

“No, I don’t.” Percy shook his head.

“Percy, please, it’s me.” I pleaded. Hazel and the Asian boy glared at me, so I backed off a little. “We’re brothers.”

Percy’s eyes grew wide with shock. “That’s not possible. I don’t have any brothers, on any side of my family. I don’t know you dude.”

“Percy, you don’t mean that…” I begged, feeling devastated. Hazel drew my attention with an ‘Oh!’

“Hey, I know you.” Hazel said. “You’re the boy that bought our coffee.” I nodded before looking back at Percy.

“I…I-I don’t understand. How do you not know me? Percy, we went through so much together.” Percy cocked his head in confusion. “Japan, the Regalia, the…the Orochi. Any of this ringing a bell?”

“Sorry.” Percy said as he shook his head again. “Look dude, I think you’re just confusing me with someone else. But I hope you find him. Good luck.”

            I just stood there with my world shattered, watching Percy walk away. The Asian boy looked over his shoulder at me, either judging me or making sure I didn’t follow. This makes no sense. How the Hell could Percy _not_ recognize me? We share a bedroom for gods sake!

            Yatagarasu perched himself on my shoulder. He must have sensed how I was feeling, so he nuzzled my cheek to try to lift my spirits. But it didn’t work. I just stared at Percy’s back, seeing him get smaller and smaller as he got farther away.

            I heard someone laughing, and the voice sounded annoyingly familiar. Looking across the street I saw that arrogant goddess Hera sitting at a café, wearing a business suit, her brown hair tied in a tight bun. She raised the teacup in her hand in a mocking salute before going to take a sip. She pissed me off so much. I grit my teeth so hard that it hurt and I glared at her with all the contempt I felt. All of a sudden, her teacup shattered, spilling the hot drink all over her lap.

“ _Did_ I _do that_?” I thought. I shook my head to focus and walked away from Hera. “That evil conniving little bitch.” I’m going to keep my promise to make _Her Highness_ pay.

            I broke out into a run to catch up with Percy. I could just barely see him from where I was. I looked over at Yatagarasu, who didn’t even need a verbal command to know what I wanted. He just took off and flew after Percy.

            After catching up to Percy and his new…friends, I guess, I decided to hang back and just keep an eye on my brother. For some reason, Percy doesn’t remember me. And with his two companions with him, it’s best if I don’t force myself on him…ok, that sounded really bad, but you guys know what I mean. Keeping my distance the best I could I watched as the three of them sat in a sidewalk cafe to order food.

            As I watched them eat from across the street, my mind wandered to what I did earlier, with the incident in the alley with Juno. I had used magic to slam her into that wall. The very ability I painstakingly learned from ‘The Dark One’, with some help from Ingrid of Arendelle, which like I said I haven’t been able to use since I left Storybrooke. But, I did use it on Juno.

            Granted, I didn’t realize it at that moment. I was just so angry that Juno did what she did that I just blew up. But, I remember Rumpelstiltskin teaching me that anger and hatred are the emotions used to fuel magic. So maybe if I focus my anger I can use magic here. Then again, the Sacred Regalia were glowing when I slammed Hera against that wall. So maybe, just maybe, the Regalia were helping me use magic.

            I wanted to try to test my theory, but before I could Percy and the other two stood up and paid for their lunch. I waited for a little bit so they wouldn’t notice me. Glancing up I saw Yatagarasu soaring through the sky, keeping tabs on my brother for me.

            Where ever they were going, it wasn’t too far away since they never got on a bus. When they stopped to ask someone for directions I hid behind a corner. It was too loud with all the people on the street for me to overhear where they were asking directions for. As soon as they started moving I waited a moment before continuing to follow them.

            They kept heading south of downtown. The buildings transitioned from old to new, classic to practically new age. The plaza that the walked to was filled with many glass towers. Hazel stopped and looked around. The way she looked when I saw her face made it seemed like she was on edge. And then she pointed at a large building that had one of the most recognizable names in business- Amazon.

“Okay…” I cocked my head in confusion. What could they need in Amazon’s headquarters?

            The three of them started talking before Percy walked through the door; Hazel and the other boy following close after him. Seeing Yatagarasu flying around I signaled him to keep watch. He perched himself on the Amazon sign above the entrance.

            I kept low and watched through the glass walls as Percy and the others walked through the very empty lobby. Really, for a multi-million dollar company, I expected to see more than just a secretary and a few small plants in the lobby of their headquarters. I couldn’t really see the secretary all that well from my position, but what I could make out was her auburn hair and her black pantsuit.

            They talked to the secretary for a few minutes, although from what I could tell she was directing most of her attention to Hazel. And then all of a sudden, and so fast that it was difficult to make out, the secretary attacked. She kicked the Asian guy and sent him flying across the lobby before tripping Percy with her sword (which appeared out of nowhere, but then again I have seen stranger things) and held the tip of the blade against Percy’s throat.

            I was going to rush in and help but the moment Percy hit the ground a dozen more women in black appeared out of nowhere and flooded the lobby. Each were armed with swords and looked ready to take on an army, not three demigods. I held back as they surrounded Percy and the other two.

            The group of women parted enough for me to see that Percy and the Asian boy chained at the wrists, but Hazel oddly wasn’t. All of their weapons were confiscated, but I hoped that they didn’t take Riptide. I didn’t see Percy draw it, so maybe these women just thought all Percy had was a pen in his pocket when they searched him.

            I waited until the lobby was clear. It hurt to watch Percy practically get dragged by these…Xena fanatics, but as soon as the last woman climbed down the black stairs at the back I entered the building. I glanced at the secretary’s desk to check if there was a security screen or anything like that but there wasn’t anything there. Once I was at the stairs I counted to ten before I descended down them.

            There were so many flights of stairs that I lost count. If I didn’t know better I would have thought I was walking down into the Underworld. And when I left the long stairwell my jaw dropped. I was standing in a huge cavern (which was kinda/sorta how Percy and Nico described the Underworld.) It was a huge place, so huge you could probably fit a sports stadium or two in it at the very least.

            The cavern was lit with bright florescent lighting from the ceiling. And taking up this entire cave was a massive system of conveyor belts that wound through the room, weaving their way through massively tall metal shelves that seemed to stretch on and on, never ending. Robotic arms moved crates around to the conveyor belts, boxes were being folded, and those Styrofoam peanuts were poured into large packages. The shelves were filled with merchandise. Crates of Kuregs, surround sound speakers, manga, infinity scarves, you name it. This place has it all.

            I was extremely nervous. I felt that at any moment one of these warrior women would jump down and capture me. Luckily for me, I was never attacked. I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard a forklift turn on and almost run over me when I turned a corner. As it passed I saw a man driving the machine, wearing an orange jumpsuit and a collar chained around his neck.

            Peering around the corner, I was shocked to see what I did. There were dozens of men in the same orange jumpsuits, all wearing the iron collars around their necks. One of the men, who looked like he was only just out of college, looked up at the catwalks. Up there patrolling were several more women in black suits, armed and very dangerous looking.

            This…is very disturbing. The men looked like they were prisoners, or worse yet slaves. And from what I could tell the women seemed to have a very high sense of pride and superiority to them. And then the way that one secretary effortlessly took down Percy and his two companions, who were more than likely trained demigods.

            For some reason this was starting to sound familiar. I think it was a story that Will told me during my first few days at Camp Half-Blood. Uh, let’s see…men slaves-check. Warrior women with a huge superiority complex-check…that would mean that this would mean…uh, oh. Oh. Oh gods. Amazons.

            Wait a minute. Amazon is run by the Amazons? I… I honestly don’t know how to react to that. But if I’m going to be able to walk freely and not get…dominated (I felt sick with that word) I’m going to need a disguise. Taking out the Yata no Kagami, I used its powers to make it appear like I was a girl. Silver light dimly shined around me, and when I looked into the Mirror, my hair was down to my shoulders, with dark red highlights, and I was wearing the barest essentials for make-up. My clothes had shifted to the same black outfit the Amazon’s were wearing.

            Tucking the Treasure’s under my shirt I took a deep breath and walked out into view. Some of the men coward in fear, others looked away, and then others would glare with hatred from under their bangs. I felt sorry for them. No one deserved to be treated like this, but they weren’t my priority. Percy was.

            I kept heading deeper and deeper into this insanely large warehouse of goods. I saw more men being treated like slaves and Amazonian women abusing their power over them. Trying to keep my persona, I stiffly nodded at the Amazons as I passed them. They didn’t seem to recognize me, but luckily for me they must have brushed it off as me being new.

            As I walked around I overheard a few of the Amazonians talking about how a girl named Kinzie captured three demigods and was taking them to the queen (“The _current_ queen” corrected an Amazon.) Ok, so that’s useful. If there’s a queen then there’s a throne room, so all I have to do is find it. Easier said than down in this place.

            It took some time but I was able to navigate my way to the Throne Room. I had to go through another large warehouse cavern and my feet were starting to hurt. I even passed things that you wouldn’t expect Amazon to sell. War chariots for example, and stuffed monster heads and a whole bunch of weapons.

            Once I entered the Throne Room, I was mildly surprised to see that it also was the loading zone. The walls were lined with six story metal shelves, stocked with living animals like a Pegasus and a red ant the size of a compact car. Guarding the room were weaponized fork lifts, their prongs sharpened to a terrifying point, driven by collared men, who in turn were being dictated over by large mounted crossbow wielding Amazons.

“Circe’s Island.” Percy said. I kept myself out of sight and listened as close as I could. “I just remembered. The gorgon’s blood – maybe it’s starting to heal my mind.” So, he does have amnesia, or did or…but either way, with Hera’s threat, he won’t remember me for a while. “The Sea of Monsters. Hylla…she welcomed us at the docks, took us to see her boss. Hylla worked for the sorceress.”

“Are you telling me you have amnesia?” asked, who I assumed was, the Queen. “You know, I might actually believe you. Why else would you be stupid enough to come here?”

“We’ve come in peace.” Hazel said quickly. “What did Percy do?”

            The queen and Percy bickered back and forth, blaming Circe or Percy about what happened on Circe’s Island. I remember that story. While Annabeth got a makeover Percy turned into a guinea pig, before, according to the queen, unleashing the pirate Blackbeard and causing the chain of events which led the queen, and some girl named Reyna, to where they are now.

            And then after Hazel told the queen to look at Percy’s necklace, she explained what’s happening at a place called Camp Jupiter. Apparently, the queen’s sister Reyna was that camp’s leader, something called a Praetor that was being overwhelmed by monsters and that the three of them were on a quest to free Thanatos up north.

            So, there’s a demigod camp in California? Is…is that where Percy has been all this time? And why haven’t I heard of it before? Surely if anybody knew of it we all would have stormed in and got Percy back. Oh gods, if Annabeth knew about this and did nothing, let alone tell me…let’s just say, her ears are going to be ringing for a long time.

            And Death knew. He knew where Percy was this whole time. I mean, if any being could track a living person anywhere it would be Death. And then he asked me to give Thanatos a message? He must have known that Thanatos was captured and that Percy would be sent on a quest to free him.

            While I was thinking another group of Amazons entered the throne room. The one leading them was a lot taller than the rest, and looked older with her silver hair. But despite her apparent age, she looked like she could take down Seal Team Six without a problem. She paused for a moment to glance me over, judging me with her cold stare. I stood at attention, thinking it was the right thing to do in this situation, and she smiled at me before making her way to the queen. And, there was this feeling in the pit of my stomach that she wasn’t supposed to be here, but I have no idea why

“So we need your help.” Hazel said. “ _Reyna_ needs your help.” After that I heard things bouncing off the ground, like beads.

“Reyna…that foolish girl -” The Queen said.

“Well!” A new voice rang out, clapping to make her presence more known. I had this feeling that it was that older woman. “Romans need our help?” She laughed, with a few of the other Amazonians laughing alongside her.

“ _Romans_?” I thought. “ _What’s that all about_?”

“How many times did we battle the Romans in my day?” this other woman asked. “How many times have they killed our sisters in battle? When I was queen -”

“Otrera,” the Queen, er, current queen interrupted, “You are here as a guest. You are _not_ queen anymore.”

The other woman, Otrera, scoffed at her. “As you say – at least, until tonight. But I speak the truth, _Queen_ Hylla.” It sounded like she was taunting Queen Hylla. “I’ve been brought back by the Earth Mother herself!” Wait, Earth Mother? “I bring tidings of a new war. Why should Amazons follow Jupiter, that foolish king of Olympus, when we can follow a _queen_? When I take command--” Jupiter? Isn’t his royal pain in the ass Zeus the King of Olympus?

“ _If_ you take command,” Queen Hylla said. “But for now, I am queen. My word is law.”

“I see.” Otrera said. “Have we become so weak that we listen to _male_ demigods? Will you spare the life of the son of Neptune, even though he once destroyed your home?” Son of Nep-? Is…is she talking about…Percy? He’s the son of Poseidon, not Neptune. “Perhaps you’ll let him destroy your _new_ home, too!”

There was a moment of silence. “I will pass judgement,” Queen Hylla said, her tone practically freezing, “Once I have all the facts. That is how _I_ rule-by reason, not fear. First, I will talk with this one. It is my duty to hear out a female warrior before I sentence her or her allies to death.” Oh no, no one is going to harm Percy. “That is the Amazon way. Or have your years in the Underworld muddled your memory, Otrera?”

            There was a long moment of nothing happening, but the tension in the air increased dramatically. And Otrera’s comment about being brought back, and Queen Hylla’s reveal of her being in the Underworld…was Otrera dead at one point? Her name doesn’t sound familiar to me, but if she was dead, is that the reason Death is looking for Thanatos? Because the dead are coming back to life? Is it the same thing that’s keeping monsters from staying dead? And…is that why Nico left?

“Take these males to the holding cells.” Queen Hylla ordered. “The rest of you, leave us.”

“As our _Queen_ commands.” Otrera said. “But any of you who would like to hear more about Gaea, and our glorious future with her, come with me!”

            Otrera led many of the Amazons out of the throne room, sparing me a glance as she left. I stood still, not really sure what to do. But before I could make a decision Percy and the Asian boy were being hauled out by the secretary who attacked them in the first place.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked. “Queen Hylla ordered for the throne room to be cleared.”

“My apologies.” I said, my voice sounding so weird to me under my disguise.

“Well, get out.” she said sternly.

“Yes ma’am.” I said looking away. I left the throne room, sparing Percy a glance.

            I swiftly walked away from the secretary and hid myself around a corner. Pretty soon Percy and his friend were lead past me. Once they were past, I counted to twenty before I followed after them. However, I was stopped by another Amazon.

“Who are you supposed to be?” she asked. Jeez, she was bigger than Clarisse, and that’s saying something.

“I-I’m sorry?” I said.

“I haven’t seen you before.” she said. “And I know everyone here.”

“Sorry, I’m uh, new here.” I said.

“Oh I can tell.” she said. “You’re too…soft looking. We need to train you up, get you ready for battle.”

“Battle?” I asked.

“Between the Amazons and the Romans.” she explained. “Once Otrera takes her rightful place on the throne, we are to move out and fight the Romans.” She paused for a moment. “You are loyal to Otrera, right?”

“Uh,” I looked over my shoulder, unable to see Percy at all. I needed to get this over with quickly. I placed my hand on the Amazon’s shoulder and lead her closer to the metal shelves. “Listen, I’m really sorry about this.”

“Sorry about what?” she asked.

            Quickly, I reached up and grabbed her hair tightly before slamming her head as hard as I could into the metal beam. I was so grateful that she wasn’t expecting it; I didn’t want to hurt her too much. She crumpled in my arms out cold. I looked around and saw a set up hammock not too far away so I dragged her over and laid her in it. If anyone discovers her, hopefully that they will just assume she’s taking a break…if breaks existed in Amazonian society.

            After making sure she was comfortable, I ran in the direction I last saw Percy. I got lost, but then the secretary passed me. It looked like she was heading back to the throne room. I decided to go in the direction she just came from. And in no time I heard the trademark back talk that Percy lets out of his mouth.

            I looked up after I realized that Percy’s voice was coming from above me. Ooookay. The jail cells of the Amazons were at the top of a storage aisle sixty feet in the air. I looked around for a way to get up there and found three ladders which led me to a cat walk. Percy and his new friend were in cages floating in the air, connected to the ceiling by suspension cables. They were being guarded by three bored looking Amazons, who were leaning on their spears, and reading and watching Youtube from the latest versions of the Kindle Fires.

“What are you doing up here?” asked one of the Amazons when she noticed me.

“Queen Hylla wishes to see you.” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“She didn’t tell me.” I said. “But you should probably get going.”

“What’s the point?” she asked. “Hylla is due to be dethroned any day now.”

“Well, that might be true, but she has some fight in her still.” I started. “Besides, she’s still the queen right now. Do you really want to piss her off?”

            The guard’s eyes widened a bit. She looked back at the other two guards before pushing me out of the way and running to the throne room. I took her place as a guard and headed over to the cages. In the corner of my eye I saw the Amazons staring at me, so I kicked Percy’s cage for show. That got them to go back to playing on their tablets.

“Percy,” I said quietly, leaning down to talk to him, “It’s okay, I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”

Percy gave me a look. “I don’t need help from you. I have my friends to help.” It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, since he didn’t realize it was me, but man did that hurt.

“Don’t talk to the prisoners.” yelled one of the guards. I glanced back at her through the corner of my eye before looking back at Percy, only to see pure anger directed at me. The anger of a good man.

            I backed off and pretended to keep guard. One of the Amazons must have thought I looked bored, so she offered me her tablet to play on. I shook my head, declining her offer. Percy and the other boy were talking to each other in hushed tones. From what I could make out, they were discussing escape plans.

“Get moving, girl.” Coming this way was Hazel, being prodded along via a sword to her back by the very secretary who took the three of them down.

            Hazel looked nervous and scared. Her gold eyes were darting around, more than likely looking for an escape route or something to help her break the others free. She came to a sudden halt, her eyes going wide when she saw…something. I think the secretary and Hazel were whispering to each other, but it was hard to tell. But I wasn’t the only one who noticed, as the two other Amazonians were frowning in their direction.

“What are you staring at?” the secretary yelled. “Here’s the third prisoner. Come get her.”

The guard closest to them passed me her tablet. “Why can’t you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?”

“Um, because -”

“ _Ooof_!” Hazel fell to her knees, and she looked like she was almost going to be sick. “I’m feeling nauseous! Can’t…walk. Amazons…too…scary.”

“There you go.” the Secretary, Kinzie, said, giving Hazel a little nudge. “Now, are you going to come take the prisoner, or should I tell Queen Hylla you’re not doing your duty?”

            One of the guards rolled her eyes and gave me a look that screamed ‘ _Can you believe this?_ ’ before trudging her way over to Hazel. She grumbled under her breath the entire way. Once she was next to Hazel she, a little too roughly in my opinion, grabbed her arm.

“Fine.” she said. “I’ll take custody of the prisoner. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn’t worry about Hylla. She won’t be queen much longer.”

Kinzie took a noticeable breath in, but showed no other reaction. “We’ll see, Doris.” She turned and walked back down the catwalk.

“Well?” Doris said. “Come on.”

“Not…feeling so good.” Hazel said.

“You are _not_ throwing up on me.” growled Doris. She yanked Hazel to her feet, only for the girl to go limp and fall to the floor. Doris looked up at me. “New girl, get over here and help.”

“Yeah, I’m not getting puke all over me.” I said.

“Gods you’re such a girl.” Doris said annoyed. “Lulu! Help me tame this little girl.”

“ _Doris and Lulu_?” I thought. “ _Odd names for Amazons, but…okay…_ ”

            Lulu the Amazon jogged over and grabbed a hold of Hazel. As they tried to pull her up onto her feet, Hazel flopped herself onto the floor of the catwalk with an ‘Ooooh’. She visibly flattened herself as much as she could.

Doris let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, give me a-”

            Before she could finish, the pallets of merchandise began to shake. And then they exploded. It was like a Las Vegas Casino, silver friendship bracelets cascading across the catwalk like a waterfall. It was so powerful and sudden that Doris and Lulu (stupid names, but I wouldn’t say that to their faces, or they’d go all ‘Wonder Woman!’ on me) were washed over the railing. And somehow, instead falling to their deaths, they were saved when a series of bracelets latched together and caught their ankles, leaving them hanging and screaming like little girls.

When I turned back to look at Hazel, she was out of her bonds and was holding a spear. “Should I kill you from here?” she snarled. “Or are you going to make me come over there?”

“No, you don’t have to kill me.” I said, taking out the Yata no Kagami. It started glowing in its sliver light, and my disguise faded in the same light. “I’m here to help.”

“You?” Hazel asked in shock. I nodded and brought my sword out of its ring form and proceeded to cut the locks of the cages Percy and the other boy (I really need to learn his name) were in. Hazel helped the Asian boy out while I helped Percy.

“Thanks.” Percy said, eyeing me cautiously. “You’re the guy who tackled me, right?”

“Technically, I hugged you.” I said.

“But why are you here?” he asked. “Who are you?”

“I’m Tsuna, Percy.” I said. “We’re family. Please remember me.”

“Dude, I’m sorry, but I don’t know you.” Percy said.

I let out an annoyed sigh. “That’s because your memories were stolen by that bitch Hera… or Juno, or whatever that monster calls herself. I can fill in the blanks-” Alarms began wailing all through the cavern, cutting me off.

“Percy, we don’t have time for this.” yelled the Asian boy.

“Frank’s right.” Hazel said. Okay, Frank, that’s his name. Got it. “Our weapons and supplies are at the end of the catwalk, we should hurry. Let’s go!”

            I could tell that the three of them didn’t trust me. But at the moment, their trust of me wasn’t at the top of their priorities. They collected their stuff, Percy giving me a shocked look when I asked if he still had Riptide in his pocket (which he did.) I brought up their rear as the climbed down the ladder, only for the four of us to be surrounded by a whole horde of Amazons who demanded that we lay down our weapons and they would give us quick deaths. But then a huge crate of jewelry exploded. The Amazons were washed away by a flood of gold and silver and other precious gems.

I was shocked. “How-”

“You, Hazel Levesque,” Frank said, “Are entirely _freaking_ amazing.” I saw Hazel blush at that.

            Hazel led the escape. And for some reason she was leading us back to the throne room. A single Amazon was walking towards us at one point, but when she actually noticed the four of us she just turned the other way, as if we were invisible.

“What the-” Percy started to ask.

“Some of them _want_ us to escape.” Hazel said. “I’ll explain later.”

            Unfortunately, she was the only Amazon that let us go. The second one we encountered was in full body armor, like a combination of Lady Sif and Wonder Woman, blocking the entrance. She twirled her spear like a baton at lightning speed. However, she didn’t stand a chance against Percy. As soon as she jabbed at him, he sidestepped, cut the spear in half and slammed the hilt of Riptide into her helmet, knocking her out cold. I smiled, knowing that Percy still remembers how to fight filled me with relief.

“Mars Almighty!” Frank said. “How did you—that wasn’t any Roman technique!” Again with Rome?

“The _graecus_ has some moves, my friend.” grinned Percy. Graecus? “After you.”

            Once in the throne room, which was luckily for us devoid of any Amazonians, Hazel led us to a cage that held a beautiful stallion of horse, with a honey-colored coat and a dark, black mane. He had fierce brown eyes that were darting around everywhere, but once he saw Hazel he kept his focus on her. Hazel used her sword, which was weirdly designed in my opinion, to cut the lock on the cage. The horse read back excitedly once he was free.

“Um…is that thing tame?” Frank asked after stumbling backwards with Percy. The horse whinnied angrily, and I have this feeling that I should be glad I don’t speak horse.

“I don’t think so.” Percy said. “He just said. ‘ _I will trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man.’_ ”

“You speak horse?” asked Hazel?

“Speaking to horses is a Poseidon thing.” Percy said. “Uh, I mean a Neptune thing.” Why is Percy talking about the planet? I need an explanation of what the hell is going on. “If you’re my brother, you can do it too, right, uh…Tsuna?”

“What? Oh, no.” I said. “I never got that skill.”

“Well Percy, you and Arion should get along fine then.” Hazel said. “He’s a son of Neptune too.”

Not even Nico is as pale as Percy became. “Excuse me?”

“The point is, he’s fast.” Hazel said. “He can get us out of here.”

“But the three of us--” Frank started.

“’Scuse me?” I said.

“Sorry, the _four_ of us can’t really fit on his back, can we?” asked Frank. “We’ll fall off, or-or slow him down, or--” Arion whinnied again, and if the way Percy winced was any indication, he did not say anything nice, or even descent.

“Ouch. That wasn’t even directed at me and I felt that.” Percy said.

“What did he say?” Frank asked.

“Uh, it’s best if I don’t translate that part.” Percy said. “But he did say that there’s a chariot in the warehouse, and he’s willing to pull it.”

“There!”

            Turing around we saw a dozen Amazons charge into the throne room, and they weren’t alone. The orange jumpsuit wearing man slaves were rushed in, though not with weapons. Maybe there were going to be meat shields or something. But the moment that they all saw Arion out of his cage, they backed up quickly and went for their weaponized forklifts.

            Hazel jumped onto Arion’s back with a surprising amount of grace. She told us that she knew where the chariot was and to follow her. And then Arion took off. He galloped into the crowd, who scattered like roaches at the sight of him. Percy knocked out an Amazon and Frank swept two off their feet with his spear.

            An Amazon came rushing at me. I swung my sword and sliced the spear in half. In the Amazon’s state of shock I kicked her in her stomach, sending her sprawling to the floor. Several more Amazons came at me, looking like they’re literally able to rip me in half with their bare hands. They all came at me at once, with a few of their meat shield men slaves with them.

“Tsuna!”

            I looked over the Amazons and saw Percy waiting at the door to the throne room. I couldn’t see Hazel, Frank or Arion, so they must have left to go find the chariot. In my distraction an Amazon was able to nick my forearm. I jumped back and gripped the wound. Well, more of a large scratch than a wound, but still.

            I was far outnumbered, and I couldn’t even fight the Amazons since they were using the men as meat shields. Every time I swung my sword I had to stop midway or else I’d kill the innocent men. I backed up and glared at the Amazons.

“Cowards.” I hissed. “Using men as shields. I would’ve figured Amazons had more honor than that.”

“Is it cowardly if we’re fighting smart?” one of them asked. I’ll give them that. But it’s still fighting dirty. I can’t just go through the men to get to the Amazons. I grit my teeth in frustration.

“Get back.” I warned.

            They stepped closer, the Amazons getting ready to strike. One of them had a wicked looking whip in her hand, which she snapped menacingly. Talk about the textbook definition of a dominatrix.

“I said get back!” I yelled. I raised my left hand and a blue pulse, the same blue pulse that saved me from Cora back in Storybrooke, erupted from my hand. The Amazons and their slaves were blasted back.

“How did you-” started Percy.

“I learned a few things since we last saw each other Percy, and I promise I will tell you later.” I said, staring at my hand for a second. I grabbed his arm and pulled him with me. “Let’s go find the others.”

            We found Frank and Hazel pulling the chariot off the shelf. Percy and I helped them take it down, and together he and I set to work on attaching it to Arion. We made quick work of it, and rightly so, since we worked so hard to win a chariot race together back at Camp.

“Get in.” Percy ordered. I practically jumped in, and saw how we’re going to have to squeeze tight next to each other. “Frank, come on!” Percy jumped in, and Frank followed. Yep, very tight fit. “Hazel, go!”

At that moment an army of fully armored Amazons, led by Otrera riding a forklift, came charging at us. “Stop them!” she screamed.

“Now would be good Hazel!” I yelled.

“Come on Arion.” Hazel spurred Arion.

            The moment Super-Horse here took off, it felt like I got whiplash. He zig zagged through the cavern, dodging past crates and forklifts that were trying to form a barricade. The army of Amazons behind us were firing off arrows. One of them hit a pallet, and apparently (and this is good to know if you’re going to buy anything soon), Amazon.com carries explosive material, more than likely Greek Fire, and it caused a chain reaction that blew up a couple of shelving units.

“The stairs!” yelled Frank. “No way this horse can pull all of us and a chariot up that many flights of – OH MY GODS!”

            I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Frank hasn’t been in our world all that long if he doubted that this horse can do whatever he sets his mind to. And the way Arion snorted that caused Percy to tell him to watch his mouth made me think that he was telling Frank off for doubting him. Arion rocketed up the stairs, and it was so hard to stay on. My fingers felt numb with how tight I was gripping the Chariot just so I wouldn’t fall off. Once we were in the main lobby Arion charged through the entrance doors and scared a few pompous businessmen.

“Ella!” Hazel cried out while looking at the cloudy sky. “Where are you? We have to leave!”

“Who’s Ella?” I asked.

“A friend of ours.” Frank said, looking a little green around the gills. Before I can ask anything else about Ella, a battle forklift burst out from the stairwell and into the main lobby. And riding on that forklift leading the charge was Otrera.

“Surrender!” She screamed. “Surrender and your deaths will be quick and painless!”

“Ella!” Hazel cried out. Otrera stood behind one of the mounted crossbows and took aim.

“Yata!” I yelled. With a caw, Yatagarasu flew into Otrera’s face and distracted her, hopefully scratching her eyes out with his three sets of talons.

“Who’s _that_?” Percy asked.

“A friend of mine.” I said. “And yours.”

“What?” he asked dumbstruck.

“GET THIS BIRD OFF OF ME!” Otrera yelled.

“Ella, come on!” Hazel said. And then I saw a blur of red feathers and the next thing I know a small harpy landed next to me.

“Ella is here.” she said, clutching several books to her chest. She looked back at the Otrera and her warriors, their weapons to be exact. “Amazons are pointy. Go now.”

“Hold on!” Hazel warned.

“Yata, over here!” I called and held out my arm. Yatagarasu flew over and gripped my arm tight.

“Arion, run!”

            Going at the speed Arion was running was such an amazing rush I don’t know the best way to describe it. Imagine that sequence in Star Wars when they’re about to jump into hyperspace, or warp drive, whatever it’s called. Everything seemed to stretch and slow down for me. We shot through Seattle at such speed that there must have been a sonic boom. He pulled us straight to the docks, and jumped. I thought we were going to sink, but instead he ran on the water like the Flash, pulling us along the Sound, leaving steam in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's a few updates in my life that are going to affect the posting of this series.
> 
> So back in August I started a new job, which took a lot of time away from this, and then college started back up for me in September. I'll be working on the series, and my Superhero AU/Avengers style PJ&O series when I get any free time, but updates will still be slow.
> 
> I thank you all in advance for your patience with me, and I hope you'll like what you read.
> 
> And as always, comments and kudos are appreciated.


	4. Percy

             Ah, jeez Frank, gross!! Really? Did he really have to throw up? I am not going to clean that up once we stop. Unless this thing falls apart on us before then. With the way Arion the Potty Mouth going at it this was the roughest chariot ride I’ve ever been on, including the time when the Stymphalian Birds back at Camp Half-Blood - Oh man, I remember that race! And I remember that jerk Tantalus giving me and Annabeth dish cleaning duty.

            Ever since I drank the Gorgon’s Blood back in Portland, my memories have been slowly coming back. I can remember my mom Sally, and gods do I feel terrible about forgetting her at all. My memories of my life before I realized I was a demigod came back in pieces, from the bad times with Smelly Gabe to all the moments I had with just mom at Montauk. If I think hard enough I see glimpses of my friends back at Camp Half-Blood. I even remember Annabeth so much more clearly. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember a single thing about having a brother named Tsuna.

            Right as we were going all Sonic the Hedgehog across the water, I looked back at Tsuna, only to see him frowning at Seattle. For some reason I had this feeling deep in my gut that it looked familiar, but I ignored it. No matter what Tsuna says, I have this sense that I shouldn’t trust him. But…why was I so worried when he was cornered by those Amazons? And that-that wave of…of…whatever that was that he did to blast them back. How did he do that? What was that? That doesn’t seem like anything a demigod can do, as far as I can remember.

“Seven hundred and fifty miles per hour.” Ella muttered. “Eight hundred. Eight hundred and three. Very fast.”

            So, Ella is a walking/talking speedometer. Good to know the next time I want to go for a drive in Paul’s car. I tend to go a bit over the speed limit. As we zoomed across the Puget Sound we passed little islands that dotted the waters, fishing boats (which I had to ignore the screams of the fish being dragged up and out of the water…sometimes being a son of a sea god has its downsides), we even passed a couple killer whale pods.

            Frank threw up again over the side, and despite the fact we were going over eight hundred miles, which I think is the speed of sound (I got a C in science, so I’m probably wrong) I could smell the bile. We were too crowded on the chariot, with the four of us back here. Pretty soon Arion ran onto dry land, zipping past cars so fast that it was like time was at a standstill. That seemed so familiar; I think I saw something like that in Manhattan a couple of months ago.

After all the running Arion was doing the wheels of the Chariot finally started smoking. “Hazel!” Frank yelled. “We’re breaking up!”

            Hazel looked back and nodded at Frank before pulling at Arion’s reins. My horse…half-brother (very strange, even by my standards) wasn’t happy about it. He muttered how he was cooped up in that cage for a long time and wanted to run for as long as he could. But he seemed to have a soft spot for Hazel because he slowed down a lot through the city streets, but it was still like going subsonic.

            We passed a sign as we flashed through the city saying we were in North Vancouver. I didn’t do all that well in Geography too, but I’m pretty sure Vancouver is in Canada. Arion continued to slow down until he stopped a top a wooded hill.

Arion snorted. “That’s _how a_ real _horse runs_.”

            The chariot started smoking all around us and just collapsed, just dumping the four of us onto the ground. I groaned when I stood up and brushed the mossy grass off of me. Tsuna was shaking his head as he got up and Frank was stumbling like he just got off the world’s fastest Merry-Go-Round.

“ _Get this damn thing off of me, Sea Brat_.” Arion ordered. “ _I don’t like how it starting to smell_.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I said, stretching my arms over my head first.

            As I started to unhitch the remains of the chariot Ella was flying in circles. She kept hitting her head against the trees, muttering ‘tree, tree, tree’ with every bonk on her noggin. I must have been paying more attention to her than I expected, because Tsuna was on the other side of the chariot helping me unhitch it.

            Tsuna saw me and gave me a small smile. It was nothing but a friendly smile, but for some reason it freaked me out, so much so that I jumped a little. Tsuna instantly dropped his smile, looking really hurt, and continued his part in unhitching the chariot. He was really good at it too, as if he’s done it before.

“That was so fun!” grinned Hazel after Arion was unhitched. She slid off Arion’s back and jumped around all giddy.

“Yeah.” Frank said, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. “So much fun.”

“ _Man am I starving_!” whinnied Arion. “ _That was such a workout_!”

“What did he say?” Tsuna asked.

“He needs to eat something.” I translated. “No wonder. He probably burned about six million calories.”

Hazel looked around at the ground before frowning. “I’m not sensing any gold around here.”

“ _Ah, son of a b-_ ” started Arion, looking angry.

“Don’t worry Arion, I’ll find you some.” Hazel said, petting Arion’s snout. “In the meantime, why don’t you go graze? We’ll meet you-”

“ _See ya’ later_!” Arion yelled before running off and leaving steam in his wake.

“Do…do you think he’ll come back?” Hazel asked, looking sad.

“I don’t know.” I said. “He seems kind of…spirited.”

“Something children of the sea seem to have in common.” said Tsuna.

“So, you’re the son of Neptune too?” I asked. “I mean, if we really are brothers, then that would be the only way. No offense, but uh…” I motioned between the two of us.

“It’s…complicated.” Tsuna said. “You probably wouldn’t believe me with your memories gone, but…”

“But what?” I asked after he stopped. “And why are you staring at me like that?” Tsuna rushed over to make and grabbed my chin, angling my face to look at my right cheek.

“How-how do you have a bruise?!” he asked.

“I got slugged, it doesn’t hurt that much anymore.” I said.

“But you shouldn’t be able to get a bruise, let alone get hurt.” Tsuna said.

“And how do you know that?” I asked.

“You’re invulnerability?” He said. “You told me about it yourself, even where your Mortal Spot was. But you also said that it was permanent.”

I grabbed Tsuna’s hand and yanked it off my face. “I gave it up.” I said, pushing him away. “It was washed away by the Little Tiber when I saved Juno from two Gorgons.”

“Oh, of course!” Tsuna yelled as he threw his hands up in frustration. “Who else would twist you into giving up your protection?!” He slammed his fist into his open palm. “I swear I’m going to make her pay for this.”

            Why was he so protective of me? It’s starting to really creep me out. But he knew about the Curse of Achilles. And he knew where my weakness was for it. Why would I trust him enough to tell him about the only way to kill me? For all I know he could be lying about being my brother and just be an agent of Gaea sent to spy on us and kill us when she gives the word. Even if I can’t trust him, I’ll have to keep an eye on him for as long as he’s around.

            I needed some space from Tsuna, so I went over and helped salvage supplies with Hazel and Frank. Ella shrieked when she found a box full of books. Snatching up a copy of _Birds of North America_ she flew to the nearest tree and perched herself on a branch. She was practically ripping the book apart as she read it.

            Frank went over and leaned on a tree, trying to catch his breath. He must still be sick from the chariot ride. I wanted to go and check to see if he was going to be alright, but Hazel told me to leave him be.

            As Frank finally looked like he was getting better and started looking around, I watched Tsuna from the corner of me eye. He had his back to us, keeping watch I guess. His bird that did an admittedly good job at clawing Otrera’s face was on his shoulder. The bird stiffened and turned its head so it was looking at me, so I looked away as fast as I could. Now that was creepy.

“Guys I know where we are.” Frank announced.

“Where are we?” Hazel asked. Frank looked back towards the woods.

“I’m practically home.” he said. “My house, I mean, my grandmother’s house, is right over there.”

“Is it far?” I asked. Hazel squinted as if trying to see the house from here.

“Just over the river and through the woods.” Tsuna, who seemed to just appear next to me, could barely hold in his laugh.

“Seriously?” I asked with my eyebrow raised. “To Grandmother’s house we go?”

Frank’s face turned red. “Yeah, anyway, let’s go.” he said after clearing his throat.

            He led us through the woods, Tsuna taking up the rear. Ella hopped from branch to branch, taking breaks to speed read through her armful of books before rushing to catch up. Tsuna’s bird Yata flew ahead as a scout.

            Hazel ran up to Frank and asked if his grandmother would let us stay the night. Her points were good. A warm home cooked meal would do us all good. And Arion definitely saved us a lot of time. Man, and a hot shower and real beds, I can imagine it now.

“It’s worth a try.” Frank said. “To Grandmother’s house we go.”

            During our trek through the woods I couldn’t help but be jealous of Frank. I mean, he actually grew up with his grandmother. With my memories returning, I remember growing up always wondering what my Grandma Laura would have been like. Would she and Grandpa Jim have let mom marry Smelly Gabe in the first place? Would Grandma Laura spoil me rotten and let me help her make cookies? I always wished I could have met my grandparents, especially when mom had to work late and Gabe was on one of his rampages. I would curl up under my bed and think about what life would have been like if they were alive, if mom could take me and run away to grandma and grandpa’s.

            Tsuna stumbled behind me, taking me away from my thoughts. He was leaning on a tree, shaking his head. I felt bad for him, and though I wasn’t sure if I could trust him or not, I’m not a jerk.

“Tsuna, are you alright?” I asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” he said, waving me off. He looked up and gave me a small smile.

            And I just now noticed how exhausted he looked. I mean, Frank, Hazel, and I have been traveling for more than two days without any descent food or sleep, and we didn’t as bad as he did. He had dark circles under his eyes like he hasn’t slept in over a week, and he doesn’t look like had a real meal in ages. He said he has been looking for me, so I wonder when the last time he slept or ate was.

“Thanks Percy.” he said after I helped him back onto his feet.

“When was the last time you rested?” I asked.

“Chicago, I think?” he said. “Three days ago maybe? It doesn’t matter. As soon as I had a clue as to where you were going to be, I didn’t stop until I found you.”

“Why have you been looking for me?” I asked. “We don’t know each other.”

“Yes, we do.” Tsuna said. “Just because your memories are stolen doesn’t make what I’m saying any less true.”

“My memories are returning, in bits and pieces.” I said. “You’d think I’d remember having a brother.”

            Tsuna let out a breath and walked away. I heard mutter something about Hera under his breath. He kept himself farther away from us as he brought up the rear. Why do I feel as bad about it as I do? I swallowed down what I was feeling when I felt something was off. I tried to look ahead of Frank to see if there was anything there. That’s when I noticed the light of a campfire. I ran ahead and grabbed Frank by the back of his jacket and pulled him back.

The five of us crouched down behind a fallen log and looked into the clearing. “Bad.” Ella murmured once she saw what we have to go up against. “This is bad for harpies.”

            It’s bad for all of us Ella. A camp full of ogres with shaggy hair. They were huge even sitting down, maybe eight feet tall. They were really red, like their entire bodies were sunburned (which I wouldn’t expect in Canada, but maybe I’m stereotyping) and were only wearing knee-length surfer shorts. Their bodies were covered in tattoos. Dragons, hearts with what I guess were their girlfriends’ names in them, and skimpy bikini clad women. They were tearing apart pieces of meat that was hanging on a turnspit. They laughed and talked as they ate. I spotted mesh bag of bronze cannonballs, and that reminded me what these guys were.

“It looks like there are more of them.” Tsuna said. He pointed to the left and there was another fire lighting another camp of ogres.

“Over there too.” Hazel said.

“They’re surrounded my home.” Frank said, looking ahead. I looked where he was and saw the lights of a mansion, not a house. Is Frank’s family rich? “My grandmother is in trouble.” Frank tried to rush ahead, but me and Hazel held him back.

“Frank!” Hazel whisper-yelled. “You can’t just go and rush in! These guys would tear you apart if you do that!”

Frank got out of our grip and dug his fingers into tree bark. “What are these guys?”

“Canadians.” I said. Frank looks appalled.

“ _Excuse me_?” he said.

“Smooth Percy.” Tsuna said.

“Uh, no offense Frank.” I said. “That’s just what Annabeth called them when I fought them the first time. She said they live in the north, in Canada.”

“Yeah, well, we’re _in_ Canada.” grumbled Frank. “ _I’m_ Canadian. But I’ve never seen _those_ things before.”

“They’re called Laistrygonians.” Tsuna said.

“Laistry-what?” Franks asked.

“Laistrygonians. Noun.” Ella said. “Cannibals. Northern giants. Sasquatch legend. Yep, yep, yep. They’re not birds. Not birds of North America.” She continued to claw her way through that bird book, probably to calm herself.

“I guess they could be mistaken for Bigfoot, with the Mist helping.” Frank said. “Maybe that’s where the legend came from.”

“Well that takes the fun out of the North Wests biggest myth.” Tsuna said.

“Anyways, you’re pretty smart Ella.” Frank said.

“Ella is smart.” she said with a small blush. She plucked a red feather from her wings and handed it to Frank.

“Oh…thanks.” Frank said, pocketing the gift.

“Who’s there!” yelled a deep voice.

            Turning around there was an ogre looking around. Slung over his shoulder was a boar, probably the next course of their meal. He took several breaths in through his nose. He must have been trying to sniff us out because it was so dark. I reached for Riptide, but Tsuna grabbed my wrist. When I looked up he shook his head, telling me not too. Before I could ask why he reached into his shirt and pulled out this weird necklace. On the leather cord was seven red, comma shaped jewels and at the base of the cord was a silver mirror, about the size of a palm.

“What are you doing?” I mouthed. Tsuna took the mirror off the cord. Letting out a breath he gripped the mirror tight and stood up, causing the ogre to see him.

“Forget the boar, looks like demi-” he started.

            Tsuna raised the mirror and aimed it at the ogre’s face. The mirror glowed in silver light, which shined on the ogre’s face. The ogre didn’t move for a second, before shaking his head and adjusting the boar on his shoulder before entering the camp.

“What was that all about?” asked one of the other ogres.

“Nothing.” said the one that snuck up on us. “Just the wind. Must be getting antsy for the attack.”

All of us turned back to Tsuna. “How did you do that?” I asked.

Tsuna let out a small quiet laugh as he put the mirror back on his necklace. “I really wish your memories were back. It would explain so much.”

“I am getting my memories back.” I said. “Bits and pieces, and everything’s kinda fuzzy in some places.” Tsuna perked up when I said my memories are returning, but I shook my head and mouthed sorry. “I remember that Celestial Bronze can kill them, but that was before…you know.”

“Death got kidnapped.” Hazel said.

“Thanatos.” Tsuna mumbled.

“That’s what I said.” Hazel said. “So with Death trapped, they won’t die.”

“We should stay away from the cannonballs.” Percy said. “They catch fire and blow up. Not that much fun when playing dodgeball.”

“And they can throw those things pretty hard.” Tsuna said. “If you think you’re far enough, you’re not.”

“If they cause any explosions,” Frank said, “The other camps will come running. The property is huge and surrounded. There could be at least sixty of these Laistry-things around here.”

“It’s a trap.” Hazel said. “Could…could your grandmother be in trouble? Is she still in the house?”

“My grandmother wouldn’t leave that house for anything unless it’s important.” Frank said. “So I know she’s in there. But we need a distraction to get to the house. If we can draw this group into the woods, we might be able to sneak through without alerting the others.”

“What can your mirror do?” Hazel asked Tsuna.

“Not enough against this group, as simple minded as they look.” Tsuna said. “I can make disguises and cast small illusions, but only on one person at a time. I really wish dad never sealed their powers.”

“You’re not like ordinary demigods, are you?” Hazel asked.

“Like I said, it’s complicated.” Tsuna said. “I can tell you all about it once we’re in a safer location.”

“Right.” Hazel said, turning back towards the ogre camp. “I wish Arion was here. I could get the ogres to chase me.”

“Actually, I have another idea.” Frank said as he slipped his spear off his back.

“Frank you can’t charge out there!” Hazel hissed. “That’s suicide!”

“I’m not charging.” Frank said. “I’ve got a friend. Just…please, nobody scream, okay?”

            Frank plunged the tip of his spear and broke it off. Okay, that makes no sense. Why break his spear? Even Ella called Frank out on it. But then the ground trembled where the spear point was buried. And then the hand of a skeleton broke through the ground and started clawing its way out. I jumped and pulled out Riptide, recognizing what Frank had summoned while Hazel sounded like she was gagging. Ella vanished in a flash of red and appeared at the top of the nearest tree. Tsuna’s eyes were wide, but he didn’t seem all that scared. Actually, he just looked really uncomfortable, and was messing with a silver ring that had a white stone set in it on his left hand. That quirk seemed so familiar, but I can’t place where.

            The skeleton looked so much like the ones Atlas summoned a couple of years ago. Its skin, while translucent at times, was mostly grey and let off a faint glow. Thankfully it was wearing clothes, a muscle shirt that was torn in places, camo pants and combat boots. It had to be a soldier.

I went to attack the skeleton, but Frank stood in front of me. “It’s okay!” he said. “He’s under control!”

Tsuna grabbed Frank’s spear and examined the newly repaired point. “Dragon teeth.” he spat. “Controlling the dead like this…”

“Frank that’s a _spartus_.” I said. “A skeleton warrior. They’re evil. They’re-”

“I know.” Frank said bitterly, snatching his spear back from Tsuna. “But this is a gift from Mars. Right now that’s all I’ve got.” He turned towards the spartus, stood up straight and squared his shoulders. “Okay, Gray. Your orders: attack that group of ogres. Lead them off to the west, cause a diversion so we can-”

            Instead of listening to the rest of Frank’s orders, the spartus, I mean Gray, went ahead and charged at the ogres. Frank tried to make him come back, but he ignored him. He reached under his shirt and pulled out two ribs. He moved a lot faster than I thought he could, moving so fast that the ogres didn’t know what hit them. They didn’t have a chance to scream. Like dominos they fell over and turned into dust. Gray must have known about how monsters don’t stay dead for long, so he kicked their remains apart. Once he was finished, he saluted to Frank before sinking into the ground.

“No Laistrygonians.” Ella said as she landed. “Six minus six is zero. Spears are good for subtraction. Yep.” Hazel and Frank stared at each other for a moment before Frank looked away.

“Let’s go.” Frank said. “My grandmother might be in trouble.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry Frank. We’ll help protect her.”

            We kept low to the ground as we walked up to Frank’s house. Even though the other ogres were far away, we didn’t want to chance being spotted. As we got closer to the house I was hoping that they didn’t have motion sensor lights. Luckily for us they didn’t have that kind of system.

            Once we got to the porch there was a quiet noise of wind chimes echoing in the night. There were lights on downstairs, but from what I could see there was no one inside. We followed Frank up to the door, but his hand froze right before the door knob.

“Frank, what’s wrong?” I asked.

Frank didn’t speak for a few minutes, looking way too deep in thought. “Frank?” asked Hazel.

“Ella is nervous.” said the harpy.

“It’ll be fine.” Frank said as he grabbed the house key from underneath a stone elephant’s foot. “Just…let’s just stay together.”

            He unlocked the door, his hands shaking. The door creaked as it opened, almost like a haunted house. As soon as I stepped inside I could smell how musty it was inside. Tsuna’s bird started making noises before Tsuna could step inside.

“Yata, it’s okay.” Tsuna said. “Head to the roof, keep watch. But get some rest my friend.” Tsuna’s bird nodded and flew off and up.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked.

“He doesn’t care for being indoors.” explained Tsuna. “Don’t worry; he’ll stick to the roof. If any of the ogres make a move, we’ll know right away.”

“He seems really loyal to you.” I said.

“Yeah, he does.” Tsuna said. “It’s nearly cost him his life a couple of times.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well Percy, looking for you hasn’t been the safest journey in the world.” Tsuna explained. “We tend to attract monsters like magnets.”

“Were you hurt?” I asked, unsure where my concern was coming from. Tsuna was quiet for a moment.

“Yeah, I was. But I got better quickly.” he said. “We should follow the others.”

            We went through the living room, where there were a lot of Buddha statues. Hazel asked Tsuna if he felt at home here, which earned her a look. I think he was offended, but he calmly told Hazel that he’s of Japanese descent, not Chinese. She was embarrassed, so she continued to look around. In the kitchen we found a huge stack of dirty dishes. Frank said that they had a maid (okay, Frank _is_ rich is his family has a maid) that came _every_ day to clean. I really hope that the maid was scared off and not eaten. Throughout the house were large porcelain vases that were covered in cobwebs. Frank seemed to look guilty as he stared at the vases.

            Frank led us to…is it called a parlor? A sitting room? Anyway it had a fireplace in it. It looked old, dark, and cold. Hazel let out a gasp and hugged her chest.

“Is…is that-” she started.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “That’s it.”

“That’s what?” I asked. Frank and Hazel shared another look.

“It’s the fireplace.” Well, no duh, Frank. My head is _that_ filled with seaweed. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

“Are they alright?” Tsuna asked.

“I think so.” I said. “They’ve been acting weird since Seattle.”

            With each step the stairs creaked. Man, how long has this place been in Frank’s family if the stairs creak like a horror movie. The upper levels looked a lot like the bottom floor, dirty and lifeless. Frank stopped at one of the doors and peered inside. I looked over his shoulder to see what made him stop there. It was filled with spelling awards, a bow and a quiver, and pictures of Frank and his mom. Actually, there were a lot of pictures of Frank’s mom. They were really close, just like me and my mom. I should call her as soon as I can, she must be worried sick.

“You’re mother’s beautiful Frank.” Hazel said. His face turned a little red. Before I could say anything Tsuna spoke up.

“You and your mom were really close.” he said. He grabbed a picture that had Frank and his mom at some dance. “It reminds me of me and my mom, before…before…”

“Tsuna, are you-” Hazel started.

“I’m fine.” he said quickly. “Excuse me.”

He left the room, and I think he was on the verge of tears. “Tsuna…” I started, but I didn’t know what to say. I don’t know him. Frank looked through his pictures before taking a shaky breath and leading us out.

Tsuna was just outside the door. “Um…are you alright?” I asked. He nodded.

“Yeah, just got a little emotional.” he said.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Tsuna said.

            Frank took us down the hall, to the only room that had light coming from under the door. He knocked quietly. Maybe he’s afraid to disturb his grandmother. When no one answered he slowly opened the door.

            The moment I saw Frank’s grandmother I felt so bad for him. She was pale and looked so frail that I was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to lift a cup of tea. Her white hair was spread out on the pillows, looking like it hasn’t been brushed in weeks. If it wasn’t for the fact that I could just make out the blankets rising and falling with each breath she took I could have sword she was dead.

Frank stood frozen, staring at his grandmother’s bed. “Mars?” he said.

“Frank?” whispered Hazel. “What so you mean _Mars_? Is your grandmother…is she okay?”

“You don’t see him?” Frank asked.

“See who?” I asked, taking out Riptide. “Mars? Where?” Frank continues to stare at his grandmother’s bed. He clenched his hands and took a deep breath.

“Guys, its…” he started. “It’s nothing. Listen, why don’t you three take the middle bedrooms?

“Ella go to roof.” she said. “Roofs are good for harpies.”

“Sure, go ahead.” Frank said. “There might still be food in the kitchen. I just…would you please give me a few minutes alone with my grandmother?” I…I think she-”

“Of course, Frank.” Hazel said, laying her hand on his arm. “If you need anything, I’ll be here for you.” Frank nodded. “Come on guys.”

Me and Ella followed Hazel out, but I noticed that Tsuna stayed where he was. “I’m sorry you have to go through this Frank, I really am.” Tsuna looked at Frank’s grandmother for a second before squeezing Frank’s shoulder and leaving the bedroom.

            Ella found the entrance to the attic and flew up there while the rest of us went to the kitchen. We cleaned up the room a little bit, doing the dishes so we can have something to eat on. A lot of the food had gone bad (the smell of the spoiled milk making all of us nearly throw up) but there was still a good jar of peanut butter and blackberry jelly. Tsuna was able to find a still good loaf of bread in one of the cupboards. There was still some stuff to make us all a good breakfast tomorrow.

            Hazel made us sit at the kitchen table while she made us all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. While she kept herself busy, I had to try really hard _not_ to look at Tsuna. He was just staring at me with his sad green eyes, which looked too much like my own. He broke his stare for a second when Hazel placed the sandwiches down in front of us. But once he started eating he kept on staring at me. It was really starting to piss me off.

Hazel must have felt awkward so she broke the silence. “So…Tsuna…what are you doing with us? Why are you here?”

“I’m here for Percy.” he explained. “I swore that I would bring him home and reunite our family.”

I banged my hand against the table. “Tsuna let me make it clear to you. I don’t _know_ you. I don’t _remember_ you. I can remember Annabeth clearer than anyone, I’m slowly remembering my mom, and just recently I had a dream about Tyson-”

“You remember Tyson?!” Tsuna smiled.

“But I don’t remember you.” I finished. I tried to take deep, calming breaths like all my school councilors used to tell me to do, but it wasn’t working.

Tsuna reached out and grabbed my hand. “Just give me some time Percy, please. I promise, you’ll remember.”

            I quickly pulled my hand back as if his touch burned and stood up, knocking my chair over. Hazel almost cried out in shock. Tsuna looked hurt. I needed to cool off and not be in the same room as Tsuna.

“I’m going to take a shower.” I said.

            I walked through the house trying to find the bathroom. Once I did I grabbed a towel and stole what I think was one of Frank’s bathrobes. The bathroom was pretty nice, but I was so upset that I didn’t take in the details. The water pressure was amazing though, that I remember. I ran my hands through my hair, getting all the dirt and grime out. I still felt like I wanted to punch a wall. Being in water usually made me feel better, more at home, but not this time.

            I stayed there under the spray for a while, but I still couldn’t cool down. I let out a breath before stepping out of the shower. Willing myself dry I put on the bathrobe. Hazel knocked on the door saying she’s going to wash our clothes and that I should take them to the laundry room. After I told her I would do that I stayed in the bathroom for a couple more minutes.

            Letting out a breath I left and headed to the laundry room. I threw my clothes in the washer and started the machine. As I got a drink of water from the kitchen I looked at the clock on the stove and thought that I should get some rest. Maybe that’s why I’m so grumpy. I haven’t had any real sleep in a few days. But as I walked to one of the rooms I was ambushed by the one person I did not want to talk to right now.

“Percy, wait up!” Tsuna called.

“What do you want Tsuna?” I asked irritated.

“I should have thought about this early.” Tsuna said as he took out his wallet. “Photographic proof that I’m telling you the truth.”

“Tsuna-” I started.

“I mean, there’s the time when you introduced me to Mrs. O’Leary, such a sweet dog.” Tsuna continued. He started taking out pictures. “And then there’s the time when we were in Japan and posed in front of the Godzilla statue-”

“ _Tsuna_ -”

Tsuna smiled at the third picture he pulled out and then started to shove the pictures in my hands. “And then there was the time when you actually talked me into tossing Ni-”

“ _SHUT UP_!!” I yelled. I tore the pictures to shreds and grabbed Tsuna by the shoulders. I pushed him against the wall and got up in his face. “Listen to me and get this through you thick skull. I don’t _know_ you. I don’t _remember_ you. I don’t _trust_ you. I have absolutely no reason to trust you. Just stay away from me and my friends.”

“Percy, please, you don’t know what you’re-”

“Shut up!” I screamed.

            I tossed him to the floor and walked to one of the spare bedrooms, slamming the door as I went inside. I went straight for the pillow and grabbed it before screaming into it as loud as I could. It actually made me feel a little bit better, but I was still pissed. But I calmed down enough to know what I did was wrong. Taking a deep breath I went to the door but stopped when I heard crying. I opened the door a little and peeked through.

            Tsuna was the floor crying. His tears were falling on the carpet as he picked up the remains of the pictures. He kept muttering ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I failed’ over and over. I felt sorry for him. And I felt so bad that I did that in the first place. But something inside of me was keeping me from going out there and apologizing. I closed the door and slid my back against it until I was sitting on the ground. I listened to his sobs for who knows how long. Tsuna’s cries soon became fainter as he went into his own room, but I could still hear them as muffled as they were. And I felt deep down in my heart that they sounded so familiar. It scared me why it felt so familiar, and for the rest of the night I had this crushing guilt weighing me down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	5. Percy

“Percy? Percy, wake up.”

“Five more minutes mom.” I pleaded, pulling the blanket over my head. “I swear I won’t be late for school again.” I started getting shook so I groaned.

“Percy, you need to get up.” groaning again I lowered the blanket, squinting in the morning light. Hazel was there in fresh clothes.

“What time is it?” I asked, running my hands down my face.

“Early.” she said. I might be wrong, but I think she was blushing. “Um, Frank’s grandmother wants to see us. I put your clothes on the bedside table, and here’s some breakfast.” She placed a tray with eggs and bacon and a glass of orange juice on the bed.

“Thanks Hazel.” I said.

“You’re welcome.” she said. “I’ll, uh, give you a minute.” I had already stuffed a couple of pieces of bacon in my mouth so I just nodded.

            After I finished eating I got up and stretched. I was still really tired. I didn’t really sleep too well. I was tossing and turning all night, trying to think of what I’ll say to Tsuna when I see him. He didn’t deserve to be yelled at like that. I know that he meant well, but for whatever reason I just blew up on him.

            Getting dressed in my freshly washed clothes (they were still kinda warm from the dryer) I met up with Hazel in the hallway, where she was holding another tray of food. She led us back to Frank’s Grandmother’s room, where I noticed that Tsuna wasn’t with us at all. Before we went in I grabbed Hazel by the crook of her arm.

“Where’s Tsuna?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” she said. “He was in one of the rooms when I brought him breakfast, but when I came back he was gone.”

“ _Did he run away_?” I thought. But then I remembered that if Tsuna is as stubborn as I think he is, me blowing up on him isn’t going to scare him off. He has to be around here somewhere. “Did Frank’s Grandmother tell you why she wanted to talk to us?”

Hazel shook her head. “She just told me to come get you.”

“Right.” I said.

            I knocked on the bedroom door and opened it for Hazel. Frank was sleeping on the floor while his Grandmother was sitting up in her bed. Hazel placed the food on the table closest to Frank.

“Thank you dear.” said Mrs. Zhang. “It’s so nice to see that my little Fai has such good friends.”

“Thank you ma’am.” Hazel said.

“Poached eggs with bacon on toast. Frank’s favorite.” she said.

“I know.” Hazel said with a smile. “Frank told me about it once.”

“You’re such a sweet girl.” Frank’s Grandmother looked at me. “And you…well; I can see that you’re brave.”

“Uh, thanks?” I said.

“I have a feeling that you’ve been a good influence on my grandson.” she said. “Thank you.”

“You’re…welcome?” I said. “But I don’t know I’ve been any kind of influence towards Frank at all. He’s a great guy and a good friend.”

“That’s kind of you.” she said. “So, I assume you saw the ogres surrounding the house when you came in last night?” We nodded. “Then you know how bad the situation is. Head to the attic. I already sent your Japanese friend up there. Strange, as it is tradition that quests have only three heroes.”

“Tsuna sort of tagged along back in Seattle.” Hazel explained.

“Did he?” she asked. “Well, at least he seems to know what he’s doing.”

“But why did you send him up there?” I asked.

“Because there are weapons up there boy!” she said sternly. “Believe me, this isn’t the first time my family has been attacked. He’s preparing for battle.”

“We should go up and help him.” Hazel said. “There was a lot of Laist- uh Laistry… ogres out there last night, but more could have shown up.”

“You’re right.” I said. “We should get going.”

“Before you go, there’s something I need to ask you.” Frank’s Grandmother said. “Uh…what was your name again dear?”

“Hazel ma’am.” Hazel said.

“Hazel. If you would be a dear and fetch Frank some clean clothes from his room, I would appreciate it.”

“Of course.” Hazel said. “I’ll meet you in the attic Percy.”

“Alright.” I said as she left.

“And Percy.” asked Frank’s Grandmother.”

“Yes?”

“I need to ask you a favor, and please don’t tell my Fai about this.” she said, looking at Frank.

“Uh, sure.”

Frank’s Grandmother let out a small breath. “I know how Fai Zhang is. He doubts himself and his abilities. But he is a proud warrior inside, like his mother. I know he’ll prove himself.” She looked back at Frank and I swore I saw her tear up. “But he is still my grandson, and I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to him. If you could just watch out for him, make sure he stays safe…”

“Of course.” I said. “He’s my friend, so I’ll watch his back.”

“Thank you.” She took a deep, calming breath. “You should get to the attic and prepare for battle. I’m sure the ogres won’t wait for much longer.”

“Right.”

            I went to the pull down ladder that Ella found last night and climbed up to the attic. It smelled mustier than the rest of the house and I ran face first into a couple of cobwebs. The attic was a lot like the attic in the Big House back at Camp Half Blood. It was filled with boxes and chests that were stuffed with weapons. Shields, spears, swords, bows and arrows, even a few scraps of armor and a giant crossbow in one of the windows. And then there was-oh my gods, is that a machine gun at the window?! Awesome!

There was a clang of metal falling on the floor, so I quickly turned to see Tsuna looking through the weapons. “Oh, hey Tsuna.”

“Morning.” he said quietly, not even looking me in the eye. He went back to going through the weapons. Even with the light in here, I could see how red his eyes were from crying all night.

“Listen, Tsuna-” I started.

“If you’re trying to apologize, don’t.” he said. “I’m not mad about it.”

“But I should never have exploded at you like that.” I said.

Tsuna shook his head. “No, it’s my fault Percy. I was just being pushy about rebooting your memories. I hoped that seeing those pictures of the two of us would just prove to you that I’m telling you the truth.”

“Gods, the pictures!” I yelled. “Tsuna, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright. They’re only pictures.” Tsuna said. “I’m sure there are copies back home. Besides, I’ll always have the memories in here.” He pointed to his chest, to his heart.

“Still, I can’t believe I did that.” I said.

“Like I said, I was being pushy.” he said. “And with _Mars_ , or should I say Ares, here I’m pretty sure his presence through you over the edge.”

“So who are you exactly Tsuna?” I asked. “You know of Camp Half Blood, but you say you’re not a son of Poseidon.”

“Technically, I’m his great grandson.” Tsuna said.

“So that makes me your uncle?” I asked.

“It’s weird to think about it like that, but yeah, technically.” he said. “But Sally and Paul adopted me after we got back from Japan, so I am your brother.”

“Tsuna, I wish I could believe you.” Percy said. “But I don’t. Every time I try to think back and remember anything about you, there’s nothing there but a sense of distrust. But, if you are telling me the truth, _why_ can’t I remember?”

“It must be my punishment.” Tsuna said while shrugging his shoulders.

“Punishment for what?” I asked.

“For interfering with her Royal Pain in the Ass’s plans.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Juno, or as we better know her as Hera.” Tsuna explained. “She is punishing me for going against her plans for you, whatever the hell they are. Something about fighting in an upcoming war. But she’s never cared for me once she learned I was a Shinto demigod.”

“Wait, _Shinto_ demigod?!” I practically yelled. “But you just said you were a Legacy of Poseidon!”

“What the hell is a Legacy?” Tsuna asked. “I am the son of Susanoo, the Shinto god of the seas and storms. Basically Poseidon’s Japanese equivalent.”

            Okay, so…the Shinto gods are real, on top of the Greek and Roman gods. Man, if Camp Jupiter finds out or gods forbid Octavian finds out, Tsuna would be put on the shopping block. They were distrustful of me being Greek, and they are pretty closely related. But if they find out about Tsuna being a Shinto demigod… I’m scared for him.

There was a series of loud roars that was loud enough to shake dust from the rafters. “What was that?” Tsuna rushed over the window, and his eyes went wide for a second.

“That’s not good.” Tsuna said. “You’re going to need to see this.”

            I went over the window and saw a whole herd of the Laistrygonians across the field. It looked like there was almost twice as many here now than what I thought last night. They were setting up stacks of their explosive cannonballs. I had no idea how we’re going to go up against those things without Tyson here to help. Some of the ogres were carrying spears and looked ready to fight, others were wielding surfboards (not spears disguised as surfboards through the Mist, actual surfboards) and looked confused to be there. With them wearing bibs and setting up a barbeque pit, it looked like they were ready for a picnic.

“Ella is scared.” said the harpy. I actually forgot she was up here. She had made a nest for herself between two trunks. Spread in front of her was seven scrolls, which she seemed to be reading all at once.

“Don’t worry Ella; we won’t let them hurt you.” I said. “Just…stick close, okay.”

“Ella stick close.” she said. “Ella read and stick close.” She buried her nose in a scroll. She looked towards the machine gun. “Ella doesn’t like potatoes.”

“Uh, okay?” I said.

“She had me load the machine gun with potatoes.” Tsuna said. “She wouldn’t stop screeching that ogres hate potatoes as much as she does until I did.”

Hazel climbed the later and looked around. “Wow.” she said. “This is like the armory back at Camp Jupiter.”

“Come on out Zhang!” yelled the ogres. “It’s time for breakfast!”

“That doesn’t sound good.” I said.

“We should get out there.” Tsuna said. “Fortify the defenses or something.”

“If we get to the roof we’ll at least have the advantage of being on the high ground.” Hazel said.

            Tsuna nodded in agreement and led us up onto the roof.  The ogres cheered when they saw us. In the morning light I could see them drooling. Others were rubbing their stomachs and rubbing their knives and forks together in anticipation. I really didn’t know how we were going to fight them all.

With a squawk Tsuna’s pet bird flew up to his stretched out arm. “Yata, there you are. I’m glad to see you’re keeping watch.” He ran his fingers down the back of the bird, who chirped happily.

“What’s your birds’ name?” Hazel asked.

“Yatagarasu.” Tsuna said. Tsuna’s bird looked at me before flying to my shoulder. It looked at me with its black eyes, squeezing tight with its three feet.

“Uh, hi there.” I said. I reached out to pet him but he squawked and perched himself on the TV antennae. “Uh-”

“Don’t mind him.” Tsuna said. “He’s picky with people touching him, but trust me, he likes you.”

“Ok…odd.” I said. Tsuna shrugged his shoulders.

            I went to the edge of the roof and surveyed what we were up against. Nearly sixty flesh eating ogres against the four of us. I really miss my invulnerability. I could have taken them all out and made an escape route for us. But because they reform so fast, even if I was able to take them on all by myself I would get ripped apart in no time.

“Those cannonballs look like they can do some damage.” Hazel said.

“As long as we can stop them from hitting the house we should be good.” Tsuna said.

“And how do you expect to do that?” I asked.

“I have no idea.” Tsuna said. “I’m not all that great at long range.”

“Neither am I.” I said. “Frank’s the sniper on this quest.”

“He must still be sleeping.” Hazel said.

“Zhang! Zhang! Zhang! Zhang!”

“Well, the ogres look like their getting impatient.” Tsuna said. “He should wake up once one of those hits the house.”

“We can’t let that happen.” Hazel said. “This is his home.”

“I know Hazel. We’ll think of something.” I said. As soon as I said that, an ogre grabbed one of the cannonballs and through it up and over the house like an Olympic shock putter.

“Let’s think faster.” Tsuna said after the explosion.

            We looked around but there wasn’t anything to use. I can’t use a bow to save my life (except for that one time at the Triple G Ranch, but that was thanks to Hera), and Tsuna said neither can he. Hazel said she’s okay at archery, but she was nothing compared to Frank. And I don’t think the machine gun armed with raw potatoes would do more than tick off the Laistrygonians. But Yatagarasu cawed and flew over to water hose, something we did not know how we missed between the three of us.

“Why would there be a hose on a roof?” I asked.

“Maybe it helped make who’s ever job it was to clean the gutters easier.” said Tsuna.

“Do you think it still works?” asked Hazel.

“Only one way to find out.” I said. I grabbed the end of the hose and had Tsuna turn the knob and water flowed out.

Tsuna laughed and gripped my shoulder. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Give me a moment.” I said when I heard a cannonball being thrown.

            I could tell that this one wasn’t going to fly over the house. I aimed the hose at the flaming ball of bronze and concentrated. I felt a pull in my stomach and a high-powered blast of water shot out of the hose, hitting the cannonball and causing it to explode in midair.

I smiled. “Oh yeah, I can work with this.”

            For half an hour we kept watch on the roof, Hazel patrolling the widows walk. Every now and then I had to blast the cannonballs that were thrown at us. And apparently Frank’s house has a massive lawn sprinkler system, which gave me an idea. When I looked back at Tsuna to talk it over, he was sitting back, reading through some weird book that had strange symbols on it and making some weird hand gestures every now and then.

“What are you reading Tsuna?” I asked.

“Oh nothing.” he said. “Just something I was given a while ago. It helps me with my powers.”

“So what can you do?” I asked.

“Basically everything you can do as the child of a sea god.” explained Tsuna. “Give or take a…few things.”

“Like what?”

“Well…” Tsuna took out his necklace. “These let me do several things. The Mirror lets me create illusions, while the Jewels allow me to heal people.”

“That’s cool.” I said.

“But that’s just the start.” Tsuna said. “There are things that I haven’t discovered about the Treasures, since their abilities were sealed by my father.”

“Susan…uh…”

“Susanoo.” Tsuna said calmly. “And then there’s my sword.” He lifted his hand, and the ring on his right hand looked like it turned to water before turning into the sword he was using back at the Amazon HQ. “It’s called the Kusanagi, and it’s the very sword of my father, kinda like Poseidon’s Trident. It helps me focus my powers as a child of a sea god.”

“That’s pretty cool.” I said.

“Yeah, it is.” he said. “They weren’t easy to get, but I guess you don’t remember our Quest.”

“Maybe you can tell me about it?” I asked.

“Why? What’s the point?” Tsuna sighed. “It’s not like you’ll believe me.”

“Just because I might not believe you because of Hera’s curse on you,” I started, “Or from her ripping my memories from me, but you do know me. If I never get my memories of you back, then we’ll just have to start over.” I walked closer to him and held out my hand. “Hey there, I’m Percy Jackson.”

Tsuna smiled and took my hand, where I pulled him to his feet and we shook. “Nice to meet you Percy. My name’s Tsuna Noble.”

“There, a brand new start.” I said.

“It’s something.” Tsuna said sadly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…it’s just…before you were taken, we were so close.” he said. “You’re one of the reasons I didn’t fall apart when my mom died, when I tried to kill myself.”

“Y-You tried to kill yourself? Why?”

He let out a breath and closed his book. “I was in a dark place. My mom had recently passed away while on a research trip. It was worse that it happened in the middle of the ocean, where my father could have saved her, where Poseidon could have saved her. But you were one of the lights amidst an ocean of darkness, and we became even closer.”

“Tsuna, I’m so sorry.” I said.

“It’s fine.” He waved me off before looking at the ogres. “Incoming.”

“What?” A cannonball was heading straight for house. “Oh gods!” I was barely able to fire a blast of water fast enough before the cannon ball hit us, but luckily for us I was able to stop it. “Woo, that was close.”

“Maybe we should focus on the flesh eating monsters.” Tsuna suggested.

“Yeah, you’re right.” I said. “But you can still tell me about us while we watch.”

“As long as you don’t get distracted.” chuckled Tsuna.

“You should know me better than that Tsuna.” I laughed.

“Damn right I do.”

            So for the next hour Tsuna told me about how close we were while I blasted any cannonballs that came close. He told me how for the first five years of our lives we were practically inseparable, until he moved to Seattle. And apparently after the war with Kronos he moved back to New York, where we quickly reconnected. And then he talked about how he was after his mom died and not long after that he learned he was a demigod. And to make it worse he was being targeted by monsters from the Shinto pantheon, so we were sent to Japan to gather their three most sacred relics, the same three relics that Tsuna has on him. I’m still not a hundred percent sure if I believe him, but the look in his eyes looks like he believes he’s telling the truth.

When Tsuna was talking about how he nearly went insane when he thought I died looking for the Jewel around his neck, Frank popped up from the roof access hatch. “Morning.” I said grimly. “Isn’t it such beautiful day? Today’s forecast called for exploding cannonballs and a horde of man eating monsters.”

            Frank didn’t say anything, he just nodded in agreement. He looked at me in a way that I was weirded out before switching to look at Hazel. He started smiling. I think I saw that look before, but where?”

Tsuna nudged me with his elbow. “Is there something going on between them?”

“What? Hazel and Frank?” I asked. “No, they’re just friends.”

“Frank, are you okay?” asked Hazel. “Why are you smiling?”

“Oh, uh, nothing.” stuttered Frank. “Thanks for making me breakfast. And the clothes. And…not hating me.”

“Why would I hate you?” she asked. Frank’s face turned so red I thought he might catch fire.

“It’s just…after last night…when I summoned Grey, I mean, the skeleton.” he explained. “I thought…I thought you would be disgusted by what I did…or…or something.”

Hazel raised her eyebrow before laughing and shaking her head. “I wasn’t repulsed Frank, I was impressed. I mean, the way you commanded that thing. I couldn’t believe it. The way you commanded it…it was like you were a completely different person.”

Frank’s eyes were wide. “You…were impressed…by _me_?”

“Dude, it _was_ pretty amazing.” I laughed. “I mean, yeah I was freaked out by it appearing because of past experiences, but without it we wouldn’t have been able to get here. Right Tsuna?” I nudged him.

“What he said.” Tsuna rubbed his arm, and looked a little distant.

“We do have other problems to worry about.” Hazel said. She gestured to the army of ogres, who were shuffling closer like zombies from one of those George Romero movies.

“I have an idea, but it will leave us open to the cannonballs.” I said. “I saw that you lawn has a sprinkler system. I can blow it up and cause some confusion among the ogres, but that’ll destroy the water pressure. No pressure, no hose, so those cannonballs would be able to go straight through the house.”

            Frank went quiet again. Hopefully he was thinking of something, because my water mine trick probably won’t do much against all those ogres. Yeah, it’ll distract them (and maybe blast a few of them to their dusty remains) but that’s about it.

“Okay guys, I have a plan.” Oh thank gods. “There’s an airfield about three miles away from here. There’s a plane waiting there, and with my grandmother’s note we can fly to Alaska.” Great, flying. Hopefully Zeus is feeling nice today. “The pilot is a legion veteran. He’s duty bound to help us.”

“But, Arion isn’t back.” Hazel whined. “And…and what about your grandmother? We can’t just leave her.”

“Maybe-maybe Arion will find us later.” Frank said, though he sounded choked up. “As for my grandmother…she was pretty clear. She’ll be okay.”

“There’s another problem.” I said. “I’m not good with air travel-”

“Neither am I.” Tsuna said.

“It’s dangerous for a son of Pos- I mean, Neptune.”

“The two of you will have to risk it… and so will I.” Frank said. “By the way, the three of us, we’re related.”

I practically fell of the roof, and Tsuna seemed shocked. “What?!”

“My ancestor Periclymenus, on my mom’s side.” explained Frank. “He was an Argonaut, a grandson of Poseidon.” Me and Tsuna shared a look. “What?”

“I’m a descendant of Poseidon too.” Tsuna said.

“What do you mean?” Frank asked. “Are…Are you descended from Periclymenus too?”

“No, it’s more direct than that.” Tsuna said. “My great great grandfather on my mom’s side was Poseidon. His son fought in World War II.”

“Do…do you have any special abilities as a Legacy of Poseidon?” asked Frank. I was actually curious of this too, since Tsuna told me he was a son of Susanoo.

“I was able to create earthquakes.” Tsuna said nonchalantly. “I was even able to shatter air like glass for moments when I focused it into my fist. It actually was the key to help destroy the Orochi.”

“That’s a monster from Japan, right?” Frank asked. Tsuna nodded. “But, why would you be in Japa-”

“Why haven’t you used it to take out the Laistrygonians!” interrupted Hazel.

“I said I _was_ able to create earthquakes. I can’t anymore.”

“What? Why not?” I asked.

“It was sealed to make the king of Olympus, and his wife, happy.” Tsuna explained. “Otherwise, I’d either be dead or their immortal tool.”

“Immortal tool?” I asked. “There’s more you need to tell me Tsuna.”

“I will when we have time.” Tsuna said. “But Frank, why ask if I have an ability because I’m descended from Poseidon?”

“Because I have one too.” Frank said.

“What?!” I yelled. “Can you make earthquakes too?”

“I don’t think so.” Frank said. “I think I know what it is, but I have no idea how to use it. If I can’t figure it out-”

“Frank Zhang!!” cheered the Laistrygonians. We all looked over the edge, where the ogres were staring right up at us, or should I say Frank, because they were waving at him. Their mouths were watering and they were clanking their silverware together. “Zhang! Zhang! Zhang!”

“They’ve been doing that for a while, calling you out.” Hazel said. “Why are they yelling your name?”

“Never mind.” Frank said, his voice shaking before he cleared his throat. “Listen, we need to get Ella out of here and take her with us.”

“Of course we will, the poor thing needs our help.” Hazel said.

“No not that, well, I mean, yes, but,” Frank sounded frustrated. “She recited a prophecy downstairs. I think…” He glanced at me for a second. “I think it’s about _this_ quest.”

“What prophecy?” Tsuna asked. Frank was quiet. “Frank, tell us the prophecy.”

“Ella said…Ella said…” started Frank. “ _To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion’s crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall_ … _shall_ …”

“‘Shall’ what Frank?” I asked.

Frank gulped. “ _Drown_.” I felt like I was going to be sick. Tsuna grabbed my shoulder and squeezes tightly. I looked at him and saw that he was scared, scared for me.

I felt my jaw tighten. “I don’t know how a son of Neptune can drown. I can breathe underwater. But the crown of the legion-”

“That’s got to be the eagle.” Hazel said.

“Eagle?” Tsuna asked.

“It’s the symbol of our Camp.” Frank said. “It’s a golden eagle that has a fraction of Jupiter’s power in it.”

“So something special then?”

“Very special.” Hazel said.

“Getting back to the point,” I said. “This isn’t the first time that Ella recited a prophecy. Back in Portland, she recited a line from the Great Prophecy.”

“The what?” Frank asked.

“It’s nothing, I’ll tell you later.” I turned the 

garden hose and shot another cannonball out of the sky, making it explode in orange fire. The ogres were awed by the sight as if it was fireworks.

“Ella seems to remember everything she reads.” said Frank. “She said something about the page being burned, like a lost text of prophecies.”

Hazel’s eyes widened. “You-you don’t mean-” Frank nodded. “But, but that’s impossible!”

“Does this have something to do with the books that Octavian wanted back at Camp?” I asked.

“The lost Sibylline books.” explained Hazel. “They were written ages ago by-”

“The Sybilline Sisterhood.” Tsuna said.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Hazel asked.

“The Doctor teaches more than you think.” Tsuna said. “But I highly doubt that the Sisterhood had any dealings with the Pyroviles.”

“Pyro-what?” Hazel looked confused.

“It’s a TV show, Hazel.” Tsuna said. “Anyways, what’s so important about these books?”

“They detail the entire destiny of Rome.” Frank explained. “If Octavian gets to them, or Ella, then he can bend the entire Legion to his will.”

“And that’s bad, right?” Tsuna asked.

“Octavian is cruel.” Hazel said.

I leaned close to Tsuna. “He is a big jackass.”

“Okay, keeping Ella away from this Octavian is a priority.” Tsuna said.

“It also makes sense as to why Phineas wanted to capture her.” Frank said.

“Frank Zhang!!” We all looked over to the ogres and saw one that was different from the others. He was wearing a lion skin cape and aplastic bib with a lobster on it. He was bigger and taller than the rest, so he must be the one in charge. “Come down son of Mars! We’ve been waiting for you. Come, be our honored guest!”

Hazel watched as drool dripped out of the ogre’s mouth. “Why do I get the feeling that ‘honored guest’ means the same thing as dinner?”

“Because it does.” Frank said. He turned to me and Tsuna. “Can either of you drive?”

“Yeah.” we said at the same time.

“Why?” I asked.

“Grandmother’s car is in the garage.” Frank said. “It’s an old Cadillac. Thing’s built like a tank. If you can get it started-”

“We still have to get through _all_ of those ogres down there.” Hazel said.

“The sprinkler system.” Tsuna said. We shared a look and we both smiled.

“Use it as a distraction?” I suggested.

“Good idea.” Frank said. He peered over the edge of the roof. “I’ll buy you guys as much time as I can. Grab Ella and get to the car. I’ll try to get to the car, but whatever you do, don’t wait for me.”

“Frank-” I started.

“Give us your answer Zhang!” roared the lead ogre. “Come down and give yourself over to us. If you do, we’ll spare the others. Your friends, your sweet, poor old granny. We only want you!”

“They’re lying.” I muttered.

“Kinda obvious Percy.” Frank said.

“Why do they want you Frank?” Tsuna asked.

“They think that if they eat me they’ll get my family’s ability, or that’s what Grandmother said.” Frank explained.

“Frank, you can’t-” started Hazel.

“Incoming!” Tsuna yelled. He pushed Hazel out of the way and brought out his sword. He swung it in an arc, the tip of his sword in the puddle that the hose left behind. When he swung his sword, a blade of water went flying through the air that sliced the cannonball in half before it exploded.

“How did you do that?!” I asked. “I can’t do that!”

“I know a few tricks.” Tsuna said.

The ogres roared, and when we looked they were about to throw more of the cannonballs. “You guys need to go.” Frank said. “Now!”

Tsuna gripped Frank’s shoulder. “Good luck.” He climbed down the later.

“Frank…” Hazel said. She shook her head and hugged Frank tight. “Stay safe.”

Hazel left the roof, leaving me and Frank alone. “I’ll see you in a couple minutes.”

“Percy, I don’t know if I can-”

“Trust me Frank, you’ll get out of this.” I said. “I believe in you.” And with that I climbed down the ladder.

            I could hear the Laistrygonians cheering by the time I got out of the attic. By the time I caught up with Tsuna and Hazel they were leading Ella down the stairs. Hazel was being as soothing as possible to coax her while Tsuna was carrying some books, more than likely for Ella.

When I heard rapid gun fire, I rushed over to help Hazel with Ella. “We need to get moving.” Then the house started shaking and groaning, and smoke started to fill the place. “Now!”

            Ella screeched when some plaster and flaming wood fell in front of her. I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards the garage, Hazel and Tsuna right behind my tail. It kept getting hotter and hotter, and the smoke was making it hard to breath. I think I heard Frank calling out after another explosion, but the sound of the house falling apart drowned it out. We finally got to the garage and I had to practically shove Ella inside. Hazel climbed in behind her while Tsuna and I got into the front.

            We looked for the keys, hoping that they were in the car and not, say, in the kitchen. They weren’t in the ignition, the glove compartment, the cup holders, anywhere. Tsuna pulled down the sun visors and the keys fell right in my lap. Always the last place you look. Not even ten seconds after I started the car Frank burst into the garage.

“Get in!” I yelled. Frank dove into the back, where Ella was clinging to Hazel saying ‘yikes, yikes, yikes’ over and over.

            I revved the engine, which was where Tsuna screamed for everyone to buckle up. He must be familiar with my driving skills. After gunning the engine we shot out of the garage, not even waiting for the door to open. It was good that I did though, because in the rear view mirror I saw the garage collapse in on its flaming self. I hoped that Frank’s Grandmother was able to get out somehow or at the very least, and it makes me sad to think this, but if she didn’t get out hopefully she passed away before the ogres attacked.

            The Laistrygonians ran to cut us off, but I screamed at the top of my lungs. I felt the pull in the pit of my stomach and a few of the sprinklers blew up, shooting up into the air like geysers. More ogres came at us, but luckily the Zhang’s have a huge lawn with a sprinkler system just as large. Tsuna, for some reason, grabbed my hand and looked like he was concentrating very hard. All of a sudden, the entire sprinkler system exploded at once. The entire yard was flooded with water, dirt clods, metal pipes, and a whole mess of monster dust.

            There were a few ogres who didn’t blow up. But they were dazed and running around amidst the chaos. I am proud to say that I ran over the feet of several of the Laistrygonians, and watching them grabbing their feet and hopping around was hilarious. One of the ogres thought he could stop us so he jumped in front of the car. Unfortunately for him, I was going, like, seventy in this tank, and he disintegrated on impact, leaving his remains blowing in the dust as we sped to the airport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	6. Percy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

            I never saw a sign that said the speed limit, but I like to think that I broke a few records getting us to the airport. I left behind the ogres in a cloud of dust (the regular kind and their remains). While I was admittedly enjoying driving like this, I felt so bad for Frank when I saw him in the rear view mirror. I mean, his family home was a crater of its former self, and he just lost his last living family member. I remember how it felt when I thought my mom was killed by the Minotaur when I was twelve, so I can understand how he’s feeling.

Frank pointed north once we were out of the woods. “Keeping going out that way, a few more kilome- I mean, miles. You can’t miss it!”

            Through roar of the engine I heard the screams of the ogres. Tsuna looked back and said that there was smoke coming from the forest. They must be burning the forest in their anger of not being able to eat Frank.

“Uh, I think I see a few heading our way.” Tsuna said.

“How fast can Laistrygonians run?” Hazel asked. Ella didn’t spout out an answer like she usually does, so either she didn’t know or she was too scared to remember.

“I don’t know.” I said. “But I don’t want to find out.”

            I slammed my foot against the pedal and everyone was thrown back against their seats. Man, if mom saw the way I was driving now she would probably kill me. Or at the very least ground me for life. Pretty soon I could see the gates to the airfield. And just past those was a private jet. I repeat-a _private jet_. Let that sink in for a minute. Okay, I’m over the fact that Frank is filthy stinking rich. But maybe he can get me a new skateboard for my birthday after all this is over…

            We were going so fast that I didn’t notice the pothole until it was too late. We were sent flying, and despite the fact that Frank was wearing his seatbelt his head slammed into the ceiling. Thank gods for the ADHD demigods have, otherwise I don’t think I would have reacted quick enough to slam on the breaks as soon as the wheels touched the ground. We were swerving out of control, but luckily the car didn’t flip. The car skidded to a stop right inside of the gates.

Frank rubbed his head before climbing out of the car, bow at the ready. “Get to the plane now!” he yelled. “They’re coming!”

            Oh gods, they are fast. The first line of ogres ran out of the woods at a break neck speed. They were yelling and screaming at the top of the lungs. Waving all their weapons they were closing in.

“Percy I need your help!” Hazel yelled. Ella was squawking like a chicken about to get its head cut off.

“Go on.” Tsuna said. “I’ll see if I can help Frank.”

“Right.” I said as he slammed the door. I ran to the back and helped Hazel push Ella out of the car, luckily without getting torn to shreds by Ella’s talons. But as soon as she was outside she started screeching.

“No no no!” she yelled, eyes going wide the moment she saw the plane. “Ella fly with wings! No airplanes!”

“It’s going to be okay Ella.” Hazel said, using her most comforting voice. “We’ll protect you!

“No!” wailed Ella. She fought with us as we tried to drag her to the plane.

I have up dragging her. “What can we do? She’s too scared to go and we can’t force her.”

“No, we can’t.” agreed Frank as he watched the ogres get closer and closer.

“But she’s too valuable to leave behind.” Hazel said after giving up herself. “Oh gods, Ella, I’m so sorry. I sound just as bad as Phineas. You’re a living thing, not a treasure.”

“But we can’t let the ogres get her and give her up to the highest bidder.” said Tsuna. “If the prophecies she knows are used by the wrong person, who knows how bad it’ll be.”

“No planes.” Ella said again while hugging herself. “No planes.”

            The ogres were getting closer. They were almost with in throwing distance, and with how far they can throw their cannonballs, that’s not saying much. We need to get going, like, now. But if Ella not willing to get close to the plane, let alone on it, that’s not going to happen. Ella has too much valuable information in her head to just leave her alone.

            But then I remembered that Tsuna wasn’t the only person that has been looking for me. All my other friends were out looking for me, and two people close to me are pretty close, following my scent.

“I’ve got an idea Ella.” I said. She looked at me with teary eyes. “Can you go hide in the woods? Will you be safe there from the ogres?”

“Hide.” She nodded. “Ella will hide. Be safe. Hiding is good for harpies, very good for harpies. Ella is quick. And small. And fast. Ella will be safe.”

“Okay, just uh, just stay in this area.” I explained. “I can send a friend to meet you and take you to Camp Jupiter.”

“Friend?” Frank asked as he nocked an arrow on his bow.

“I’ll tell you later.” I said while waving him off. “Ella, would you like that? Would you like my friend to take you to Camp Jupiter and show you our home?” Why do I feel like I’m talking to a three year old?

“Camp…” muttered Ellen. Then her eyes widened and became dull like she was in a trance. “ _Wisdom’s daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome_.”

“Wait, what was that?” Tsuna asked, practically giving me second hand whiplash from how fast he turned his neck.

“Uh, it sounds important, but we can talk about that later.” I said. “You’ll be safe at Camp.” She still looked unsure. “Uh, there will be all the books and food you want.”

Ella looked between me, the plan and the woods. “No planes?”

“No planes.” I said.

“Ella still scared.” she said.

“What if you have someone to keep you company?” Tsuna asked. Ella looked up at him. “I’ll have Yatagarasu keep an eye out for you until Percy’s friend gets here.”

“Where is your bird Tsuna?” Hazel asked.

“Around.” he replied. He let out a loud whistle and his three legged bird came out of nowhere. “Yata, I need you to keep an eye on Ella for a little while, okay? Stick with her until help arrives okay?” Yatagarasu chirped loudly, and Tsuna seemed to understand him. “I’ll be alright, I’m with Percy. You know how he is. Just stick with Ella for me okay?” Yatagarasu chirped again, and he didn’t seem too happy about leaving Tsuna. The black bird looked over at Ella before flying off.

“Ella will hide now.” The next thing that I saw was a red streak zip the sky and into the tree line, completely unnoticed by the ogres.

“I’m gonna miss that harpy.” Hazel said.

“We’ll see her again, I’m sure.” I said, but I wasn’t really thinking about Ella. That prophecy she said, did it have something to do with Annabeth? Why would Annabeth be alone in the first place?

I wasn’t able to think about it for too long, because the gate to the airfield came flying past over my head. “We need to get going now!” I yelled. Frank tossed an envelope to me.

“Show that to the pilot!” he yelled. He let an arrow fly and an ogre toppled over, only to get up and pull the arrow out of its forehead. “Show your letter from Reyna too! We’ve got to take off _now_!”

            I nodded to him and grabbed Hazel’s arm, pulling her with me. Tsuna wasn’t far behind us. We ran straight for the pilot, a blonde guy in his early thirties who didn’t seem that scared of the ogres. Shocked yes, but not scared. He must be a former member of the Legion.

“Here, we need to go to Anchorage, Alaska.” I said, handing him the papers.

The pilot took a quick glance at the letters before looking back at us. “Legionnaires? A bit odd that there are four of you.”

“We know, but we have to go before they,” I pointed back at the ogres, seeing Frank shoot arrow after arrow at the monsters, “Catch up.”

“Good point.” he said. “Get in.”

            Now, I honestly had to pause for a minute before actually stepping on the plane. I don’t like them, after what happened to my grandparents and because of what Zeus will do to me up there. But Hazel pulled me in while Tsuna pushed me from behind. The pilot went straight to the cockpit and in no time had the engines going. I heard three explosions over the engines before Hazel ran to the door, yelling at Frank to hurry up.

            Another explosion shook the plane. I looked out the window and saw Frank running from an exploding Cadillac. Some ogres ran through the flames and chased after Frank. Hazel stood back as Frank jumped into the plane, just as the stairs were rising. As soon as he was in, the pilot pushed the throttle and we were all thrown back by the force of the plane shooting down the runway.

“ _Senatus Populusque Romanus_ , my friends.” said the pilot over the intercom. “Welcome aboard. Next stop, Anchorage Alaska.”

            As soon as we were in the air we finally sat down. It wasn’t like the planes of celebrities I’ve seen on TV before. It wasn’t _that_ nice, but I still think it was pretty good. There were a couple of reclining chairs that were so comfortable and a couch lined the opposite wall. There was a coffee table and close to the cockpit was a small fridge. I’ll have to see if it’s stocked sooner or later, after I calm down.

            To be honest I would have preferred driving Grandma Zhang’s Cadillac to Alaska than fly there, but we needed to complete this Quest as soon as possible and get back to Camp Jupiter. I know I have flown before, but the details were sketchy. But all the terrifying turbulence _that_ I remember clearly. That and Zeus threatening me after I delivered his Master Bolt.

“Kuso!” Tsuna yelled after we hit a really bad spot of turbulence. He was speaking Japanese, and the weird thing is-I knew what he said as if he was speaking English.

“What did you just say?”

“Sorry, kinda over reacted.” He said, gripping the armrest of a chair so tight that it might rip at any minute.

“No, I understood you. How can I do that?” I asked.

“I was wondering if you still had Suzaku’s blessing.” Tsuna said.

“Suzaku?” asked Hazel.

“A…minor god from Japan.” explained Tsuna. “He’s the symbol of Summer and Fire, and a phoenix. When Percy and I went to Japan almost a year ago we saved Suzaku from a moth demon, and to repay us he gave Percy the ability to speak and understand Japanese.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, just try it.” Tsuna said.

“Okay, uh…” I started. “Watashi wa nanto itte ī no ka?” Wait a minute... “Did I just-”

“Well now you have proof that I have been telling you the truth.” Tsuna smiled, which went away after the plane shook again.

“Yeah…”

            So I can speak Japanese. Cool. That’s something. And you can’t deny that it is undeniable proof that Tsuna has been telling the truth this whole time. Before I could say anything the plane shook so badly that I nearly bit my tongue off.

            Being a child of Neptune (Poseidon, whatever) in the sky is never a good idea. Zeus must have been making the ride as rough as possible while still being able to keep us in the air. He’s never liked me for as long as I’ve known him. Although I must admit, it makes me feel a little better seeing Tsuna reacting the same as me.

            As I was taking deep breaths to calm down I saw Hazel talking to Frank. He was hunched over, eyes red from trying not to cry. I felt so bad. I was just sitting here trying not to freak out about being in a plane, and my friend is over there all broken up after losing his Grandmother. Really, what kind of friend am I if I don’t make sure he’s alright?

            I mean, Frank got us out of there. He saved us from the Laistrygonians and got us out of Vancouver. He’s the real hero today. I should be supporting him like a real friend would. And the real kicker to my gut was that he was acting all ashamed that he’s on the verge of tears. After losing practically everything in his life- his mom, his grandmother, his home- shedding a few tears isn’t going to make him any less of a man. It must be his Mars half that’s making him feel this way.

            He was so brave. He fended off monsters that were going to eat him for breakfast, more than likely without the decency of killing him first. And the fact that he’s a distant relative? That was so…unexpected. I mean, if his distant ancestor was a son of Poseidon, my half-brother, that would make Frank what? My great great great…uh…times a thousand nephew?

            And what was his ‘family gift’ that he said he has? It must be something that I don’t have, if it’s as important as Hera and the Laistrygonians made it out to be. But as we flew farther and farther north, he told us about what he discussed with Mars last night.

            Apparently, the night he was born Juno came to Frank’s mother and grandmother and told them a prophecy that involved Frank. He told us how the Fates said he was so powerful that they made his life tied to a burning piece of firewood. Hazel took it out and showed it to me and Tsuna after Frank urged her to.

“Even for the gods this is cruel.” Tsuna said. “At any moment, your life could end just because you got too close to a spark.”

“But there’s one more thing Mars told me before he left.” Frank said. “We can’t trust you Tsuna.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Tsuna said. “What exactly did he say?”

“He said that we can’t trust someone like you.” Frank said. “He said that you have your own agenda and that you’ll cause us to fail our quest.”

“Oh please.” Tsuna said. “I have no interest in sabotaging this quest. Yes, in a way Mars is right that I have my own agenda, but you already know that. I’m here to bring Percy home, but I know Percy isn’t going to leave you guys to complete this quest all by yourselves. So I’m here as…back up. But please, I’m begging you to understand, you can trust me.”

“He also said that you’re different.” Frank said.

“Care to elaborate?” Tsuna asked.

“Mars said that we can’t trust you because you’re not Roman.” Frank said. “You’re a Shinto demigod.”

“Shinto demigod?” Hazel asked curiously.

“Well a god would be able to tell I guess.” Tsuna said. “Yes, I’m a Shinto demigod, the son of Susanoo to be precise. But that doesn’t mean you can’t trust me. I’ve done nothing but help you since we met. Mars just likes confrontations and war, despite the fact I’m only here to help.”

“Remember the way the Lares were treating me when I first arrived at Camp Jupiter?” I asked. “They didn’t want me around because they thought I was Greek, and a threat to the Legion. Even though I don’t have my memories of him, I know that Tsuna is not a threat to us or the Legion.”

“Thank you Percy.” Tsuna said.

“Sorry Tsuna.” Frank said. “It’s just what my dad told me.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time the god of war was being controlled.” I said. “Juno might have manipulated him into telling you that so you wouldn’t trust Tsuna.”

            After that everyone tried to relax and get some rest before we landed. Hazel and Frank continued talking while Tsuna curled up and had his eyes closed, but with every shake of the plane he would wake up. Since it was so quiet my mind drifted back to Frank and how brave he was even going on this quest knowing that one small flame would snuff out his life.

“Frank.” I said. He looked up at me. “I’m proud to be related to you.” Frank’s ears turned red and Tsuna shot straight up. He moved like he was going to say something, but decided against it and drew his knees up to his chest.

“Uh, thanks Percy.” Frank said, his head looking down. “Juno has some other plan for us too, something about the Prophecy of Seven.”

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “I didn’t like her as Hera. She hates a good friend of mine, and she cursed Annabeth after she disrespected her. I don’t like her any better as Juno. She’s just as manipulative.”

“She’s a witch for what she did to you.” Tsuna mumbled. “You just got done with a war with the Titans, and just got back from helping me in Japan. You’ve done more than enough for the gods to last a life time.”

            Hazel started staring at me with her almost glowing gold eyes, tucking some loose hair behind her ear. I’m honestly surprised at how calm she’s been through all this. She’s the youngest person here, and yet she’s the one who’s been holding us together and always putting us before herself. I think that this is her first quest, and yet she’s so calm. I’m never this calm when I’m on quests, what with practically everything trying to kill me. And the fact that we’re going to the place where she once died? I don’t think I could sit still for a second if I was in her shoes, and here I was scared of a shaking airplane.

“Percy…” Hazel said, drawing me out of my thoughts. “You’re not a son of Neptune, are you? You’re the son of Poseidon. You _are_ a Greek demigod.”

I gripped my leather Camp necklace and nodded. “Yes, I am.” I said. “Like I said right before we ran into the ogres, I’m getting my memories back slowly. Ever since Portland, after drinking the gorgon’s blood.” Tsuna looked up with hope in his eyes. “Sorry Tsuna.”

“Why am I even getting my hopes up.” he muttered.

“Wait, if there’s Greek demigods, is that the camp Tsuna talked about?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, that’s the other camp—Camp Half-Blood.” I said, feeling warm inside at the thought of my home away from home. Smiling, I let the memories of the smell of the strawberry fields, fireworks, the satyrs playing their reed pipes just wash over my mind. And of course the best memory I have of Camp-my underwater kiss with Annabeth.

“So there _is_ another camp.” Hazel said. “A _Greek_ camp? Gods, if Octavian ever found out he’d wage war.”

Frank nodded in agreement. “He’s always been so sure that the Greeks were out there plotting to destroy us for what happened in the past. He even thought Percy was a spy.” Tsuna started cracking up.

“Yeah right!” he laughed. “Percy could be invisible and mute and he still couldn’t spy on an animal shelter.”

“Wow, thanks Tsuna.” I said. Hate to admit, but he does know me pretty well. “But that’s why Juno sent me to Camp Jupiter.” Hazel and Frank shared a look. “Oh no! Not to spy. I…I think it was some kind of exchange.” Tsuna sat up when I said ‘exchange’. “Your friend Jason—I think that he was sent to my, I mean, _our_ camp.” Oh gods, Tsuna looks furious, but I went on. “Well, I think that he was. In my dreams I saw someone who looked like it might have been him, but I’ve never seen a picture of him so I’m not really too sure, but he was working with some other demigods on this flying warship. I think that they’re coming to Camp Jupiter for help.”

Frank looked completely nervous. “Mars said that Juno wanted to unite the Greeks and the Romans to fight Gaea, but the two have too much bad blood between them.”

“That’s probably why the gods kept us apart for so long.” Hazel said. “If a warship entered Camp Jupiter and Reyna didn’t know that it came on friendly terms—”

“She would have to declare war.” I said. “So we have to be careful how we explain this when we get back to Camp.”

“ _If_ we get back.” Frank said.

“I like to try to remain positive about going on quests.” I said. “Gives me motivation to come back. Besides, I trust you guys.” I spared Tsuna a look, only to see how angry he was. “And, uh, I hope you trust me. I trust you guys as much as my old friends back at Camp Half-Blood. But, with the other demigods, at both camps-there’s going to be a lot of suspicion. It’s going to be dangerous.”

            That’s when Hazel stood up and kissed me on the cheek. Frank glared at me for a second, so I think he was jealous, but he had no reason to. It was just a sisterly kiss. But it was filled with that kind of affection that warmed me down to my feet.

“Of course we trust you.” she said. “The three of us, we’re a family now. Right Frank?”

“Sure…” he said. His face went really red, and he looked away, scratching his face awkwardly. “Uh, do I…um…do I get a kiss too?”

            Hazel laughed, and so did I. They would be cute together, even I can see that. When I calmed down I looked over at Tsuna, who was glaring through the window.

“Uh, Tsuna, are you alright?” I asked. “You’ve been pretty quiet.”

“No, I’m not alright.” Tsuna said. He looked over at Frank and Hazel. “Has this Jason been missing for about eight months?” They nodded and Tsuna started punching the wall. “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“What’s wrong is that if this Jason was at Camp Half-Blood for the entire time you’ve been missing, then why the HELL did no one tell me?!” he screamed. “Not even your girlfriend or Will ever said anything about Jason when I got into contact with them.” He punched the wall several times again.

“Did you ever go back to camp?” I asked.

“I was too busy looking for you this entire time Percy.” he said. “I left the morning after I found out you were missing, before anybody got up. Will was able to get me some supplies in secret so I could get a head start. But after I left camp I never went back.”

“But how did you get any supplies when you ran out?” I asked. “It’s not like you can buy Nectar and Ambrosia at a Whole Foods.”

“A friend of ours would make trips back to camp every now and then when we needed a resupply.” he explained. “And after we separated Will would meet up with me when he could.”

“Will…” That name sounded so familiar. “He’s the head of the Infirmary, right?”

Tsuna nodded. “Son of Apollo, and head of the Apollo Cabin.” A small smile grew on his face. “He’s been a great friend during this time, and he’s been nothing but full of support while I looked for you. He even stopped me from losing it when I heard you were gone.” Is it me, or is his cheeks just a little red?

“So you’ve been searching for Percy all by yourself?” asked Hazel.

“Just the last four months, a little before March.” Tsuna said. “Before that I was traveling with my best friend.”

            I just stared at Tsuna while he calmed down. He looked so broken up because he could have found me a lot sooner if people, if Annabeth would have let him know where to look. Why didn’t Annabeth tell him in the first place? It’s not like her to keep something like this a secret. But, if was to prevent a fight between the Greeks and Romans, it makes sense for her to do that. But if me and Tsuna are as close as he says, then Annabeth should have told him to make him calm down or something.

Tsuna glanced over at me, catching me staring at him. “Why’re you staring Perce?”

“Sorry.” I said. “It’s just…You’ve been looking for me for months, risking your life, I’m sure, all just to bring me home. I might not remember you, but I feel like I can actually trust you.”

“Thank you Percy.” smiled Tsuna. “Hopefully that mean’s Hera’s curse is wearing off.”

“I hope so too.” I agreed.

            I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair. I really need to contact Tyson. Last time I saw him in my dreams, he and Mrs. O’Leary were near Portland not too long after we left. And with how good of a tracker my dog is, she should have led Tyson pretty close to Frank’s place. If I can just fall asleep, I can send a message to Tyson.

            But as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t fall asleep. The plane was shaking too much and it was stressing me out, added with the fact that I’m supposed to drown scares the Underworld out of me. I tried taking deep breaths, sipping on some water, even thinking about Annabeth, all the while stretched out on the couch, but nothing relaxed me enough to fall asleep.

“You alright?” Tsuna asked after I sighed in frustration.

“Yeah, I just can’t fall asleep.” I said. “I need to send a message to Tyson about protecting Ella and taking her to Camp Jupiter. If I could just send a message to him…”

“Why not use an Iris Message?” Tsuna suggested. “I mean, they rarely worked for me for the past eight months, except for the few times I was able to get into contact with Will.”

“Your messages could have been blocked by the gods.” I said. “Hera to be specific. Or maybe because Iris has gone more into homeopathic goods and has left the messaging business to her attendant Fleecy.”

“Fleecy?”

“A cloud nymph I think.” I said. “Long story, I’ll tell you later.”

“Ooookay.” said Tsuna. “Can’t wait to hear this story. But if its sleep you need help with, I have an idea…” He grabbed his backpack and dug inside before taking out that book I saw him reading back on the mansion roof top.

            It was a weird book. It was a disturbing black with gold clasps. On the cover was a series of blue and green wave patterns that surrounded a white snowflake in the center. I don’t know why, but it gave me a weird vibe. Tsuna flipped through the pages, reading faster than a demigod with ADHD should have been able to.

“There it is.” Tsuna said. “I knew there was one in this book.”

“One what?” I asked.

“A sleeping spell.” Tsuna said.

“I’m sorry, spell?” I asked.

“Yep.” Tsuna said as he reread the page over again. “Back in March, while I was looking for you, I ended up in this…quaint little town in Maine, where I learned a few tricks.”

“What tricks?”

“Well, remember back at the Amazon Headquarters, where I, uh, blasted those people back?”

“Uh yeah, what was that?”

“Magic.” Tsuna said, and even he was obviously uncomfortable with that word. He turned towards me and lifted his hand. “Now, I’ve never really used this spell before, but it should be weak enough were you won’t need True Love’s Kiss.”

“True Love’s Ki—why would I need that?” I asked.

“Well, this spell is based off a Sleeping Curse that Maleficent used on Sleeping Beauty.” Tsuna explained. “And that the Evil Queen used to curse Snow White. It needs True Love’s Kiss to break, because True Love is apparently strong enough to break any curse.”

“You’re going to curse me?!” I yelled.

“No you Seaweed Brain. It’s a weaker variant of the curse. You’ll wake up…eventually…maybe…”

“Uh, I don’t think this is a good idea Tsuna…” I said.

“It’ll be okay, you trust me right?” he asked.

I looked Tsuna in the eye and saw that he needed me to believe in him. “I do trust you Tsuna.”

“Thank you Percy.” Tsuna took a deep breath and waved his hand around…and nothing happened.

“Uh, is it like a delayed effect, or…”

“Shut up.” Tsuna said, going back to flip through his spell book. “Magic has been really hard to use since I left Stor-I mean, since I left where I learned it.”

“Why?”

“Wish I knew, just give me a minute.” Tsuna closed his eyes and took deep breaths. All of a sudden, his hand had a slight blue glow to it.

“Uh, Tsuna, who did you say taught you?” I asked nervously.

“I didn’t.” he said, opening his eyes. “But if it makes you feel better…Rumpelstiltskin.”

“Wait, Rumpel-” Tsuna waved his hand and I fell right to sleep.

            The first part of the dream was terrifying. I was standing on the edge of a mountain of solid ice. I could feel the wind blowing on my face and smell the sea thousands of feet below me. The ice suddenly cracked, echoing in the air like the roar of a monster, and I fell. Chunks of ice fell with me, some nearly over twice my size. As I was falling, watching the cold sea get closer and closer, I felt my heart pounding in my chest at what Frank said. ‘ _A son of Neptune shall drown_ ’. I’m…I’m scared.

            Right before I hit the water the dream shifted. I breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling so unsafe when it came to water, my usual calming thought. Focusing, I realized that I was back in Vancouver, at the flaming remains of the Zhang mansion. The Laistrygonians were gone, either chasing after us on the ground or gave up interest in Frank.

            There were firemen all around trying to put out any remaining fires in the burned out shell that were the remains of the mansion. There were some official looking people, arson investigators if I were to guess, were looking all around the war zone of a lawn that was filled with craters and blown out irrigation pipes.

            In the corner of my eye I saw something big (putting it mildly), shaggy, and admittedly heart-warming to see bounding around the edge of the forest. My dog, Mrs. O’Leary, was sniffing trees all the while being unnoticed by anyone. And not too far from her, squatting over a crater was Tyson. He looked like he camped out with no tent or coverings for a few weeks. His messy brown hair was splattered with rain and mud, and his clothes were torn and covered in mud and leaves.

“So close.” Tyson said. He lifted his head up and I saw how red his one big eye was from crying. “So close, but gone!”

            It hurt seeing how sad the big guy was. I wanted to go and comfort him, but I could tell that I only had a few seconds left to talk, because the edges of the vision were already starting to dissolve. I think, that since that Alaska is the land beyond the gods, then the farther north I went, then the harder it would be to contact any of my friends.

“Tyson!” I yelled.

Tyson looked around. “Percy? Brother?”

“Tyson, I’m okay, I’m safe.” I said, waving my arms to get his attention, but I was like an invisible spirit. “I’m here—well, I guess not really, but-”

“Can’t see you!” Tyson said, grabbing the air as if there were floating jars of peanut butter in front of him. “Where is my brother?”

“Tyson, I’m flying to Alaska.” I explained. “I’m okay. I’ll be back, I promise. I need you to find a harpy that’s near you. Her name’s Ella, she has red feathers. She should be in the woods near the house.”

“But what if I can’t find her?” Tyson asked, though his voice was starting to sound fuzzy.

“There’s a bird, a friend, named Yatagarasu-”

Tyson’s face lit up like an eight year old’s on Christmas morning. “Big Brother Tsuna found you! I knew he would!”

“So, me and Tsuna really are brothers.”

            All of a sudden, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I mean, I know I told Tsuna that I trusted him, but with Tyson calling Tsuna brother, it just proves that he was telling me the truth this entire time. This…curse that Hera put on Tsuna to punish him must only have affected me. I need to break this curse, not just for me so I can get my memories back, but for Tsuna too.

Tyson looked at me with a sad face. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s nothing buddy.” I smiled, reassuring him. “When you find Ella, I need you to meet us in California. There’s…there’s another demigod camp there, in Oakland Hills, called Camp Jupiter. Meet me at the entrance, above the Caldecott Tunnel.”

“Oakland Hills…California…Caldecott Tunnel.” repeated Tyson. He nodded in my general direction. “Mrs. O’Leary! We must find a harpy and Yata!”

“WOOF!” bellowed my hellhound.

All of a sudden Tyson’s face started dissolving. “But my brother is okay? My brothers coming back? I miss you!”

“I miss you, too, Ty.” I said, my voice nearly cracking. “Don’t worry, Tsuna’s taking good care of me. I’ll see you soon, okay? Just be careful! There’s a giant’s army marching south. Tell…Tell Annabeth—”

            Tyson and Mrs. O’Leary faded as the dream shifted. Once everything settled I was standing in the hills north of Camp Jupiter. Below me were the Fields of Mars and the city of New Rome. Horns were blowing from the legion’s fort and campers were getting ready for battle.

            To my sides was the giant’s army. There were centaurs with bull horns (I don’t think I ever saw this kind before, since neither Chiron nor the Party Ponies had horns) Earthborn, and countless evil cyclops wearing scrap-metal armor. Not too far away from the siege tower was the giant Polybotes. While I didn’t feel sick since I wasn’t actually there, just being in his presence made me uncomfortable.

            Polybotes grinned like a madman down at Camp Jupiter. He paced back and forth like he was excited for a new video game to be released at Gamestop. Snakes dropped from his dreads and scattered around, weaving between the giant’s dragon feet.

“Yes.” he laughed. He slammed the base of his trident (a complete knock-off of my dad’s by the way) into the ground. “Blow your little horns Roman pests! I’ve come to destroy you all! Stheno!”

            The same gorgon that was chasing me for weeks slithered her way out of the bushes, free food sample tray and Bargain Mart vest looking untouched. I was really hoping that she would have stayed dead a lot longer after being turned to dust and scattered in the waters of the Little Tiber. But I guess I can’t get what I want, can I?

“Yes, master!” she said. She bowed her head and raised the sample tray. “Would you like a Puppy-in-a-Blanket? They’re hot and fresh.”

“Hmm.” the giant rubbed his stomach, thinking about the free snack. “What kind of puppy?” Why am I disgusted that he actually thinks a hot dog is a puppy?

“Oh, they’re not really puppies.” she said. “They’re actually mini got dogs-”

“Bah, never mind.” he waved her off. “Are our forces ready?”

“Almost, great one.” said Stheno. Ma Gasket and half of her Cyclopes stopped in Napa. I think she said something about a winery tour? They should be here by tomorrow evening.”

“What?!” yelled Polybotes. “That Cyclops will give me an ulcer.” He tore an oak tree out of the ground and threw it down the hill into the valley. “Cyclopes! I tell you Stheno, when I destroy Neptune and take the oceans as my own, we will _renegotiate_ the Cyclopes’ labor contract. That Ma Gasket will learn her place! Now, what news do we have from the north?”

“The demigods have left for Alaska.” explained Stheno. She sneered, showing off her snake like fangs. “They fly to their death. Oh, uh, small ‘d’ _death_. Not our prisoner one, the one with the big ‘D’. Although technically, they are flying to him too.”

“My older brother better spare the son of Neptune like he promised.” Polybotes said while squeezing his trident tight. “I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Mother Earth!” Yeah, that sounds like a blast. “What word from the Amazons?”

“Only silence.” Stheno said. “We do not know the winner of last night’s duel, but it’s only a matter of time before Otrera prevails and comes to our aid.”

“Hmm.” Polybotes stroked his chin. “Perhaps we should wait then. Tomorrow at sundown is Fortuna’s Feast. By then, we must invade—Amazons or no. In the meantime, dig in! We set up camp here, on the high ground.”

“Yes, great one!” announced Stheno to the troops. “Puppies-in-a-Blanket for everyone!” The monsters cheered, and as Polybotes was saying that the Legacy of Rome will die for the last time, Stheno slithered back. “Oh, and I forgot something.”

“What is it?”

“Our last message from the Amazons mentioned that some other demigod is now traveling north with the others.”

“Another demigod?” asked Polybotes. “That’s not a part of tradition. Who is he?”

“We don’t know. Apparently, he was disguised and infiltrated the Amazons as one of their own. The report said that he had abilities that aren’t like what we’ve encountered before.”

Polybotes waved her off. “It matters not. They could have a thousand demigods traveling with them, and it wouldn’t make a difference. They won’t be able to defeat Alcyoneus. He’s at his most powerful in Alaska. They won’t make it back here alive.”

            The dream started shaking before it faded completely. I opened my eyes and realized that Tsuna was shaking me awake. He looked worried. But once he saw that I was awake he visibly relaxed.

“Oh thank the gods.” he said as he let out a breath. “I was afraid that you weren’t going to wake up.”

“What? Why?” I asked while rubbing my eyes. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours, but you were so cold and pale, I was afraid that I did curse you.” Tsuna said. “And it’s not like we have Annabeth here to kiss you awake.”

“It’s alright Tsuna; I woke up in the end.”

“I know, but I was worried for a minute.” Tsuna said. “Did you talk to Tyson?”

“Yeah.” I said. “He’s looking for Ella now.”

“He still has Mrs. O’Leary right?” I nodded. “Great. That dog can find anything.” I smiled at Tsuna as I sat up. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” I said, happy that I know now without a doubt that Tsuna has been telling me the truth. I still need my memories though.

“Oh, you’re up!” Hazel said.

“Hey.” Frank said. He was wrapping up his spear and new bow in his ski bag. “We’re about to land real soon.”

“Really?” I asked.

            I turned to face the windows and looked out. I could see an inlet of the sea snaking its way between snow-capped mountains. The Northern Lights were shining in the sky, looking like waves of rainbow colored light. I could see a city sitting in the wilderness surrounded by lush green forests on one side, and an icy black beach on the other.

“Welcome to Alaska.” Hazel said. “We’re beyond the help of the gods now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	7. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year.

            Percy believes me. He finally, one hundred percent, whole heartedly believes what I have been telling him. Thank gods…except Hera. She can burn in the depths of Hell for all I care. Hell, not Tartarus. Tartarus is still family to the gods, so he might be more lenient. Anyways…

            Percy explained what he saw at Camp Jupiter during his dream. This giant Polybotes had led an army to the Camp’s borders and were waiting to attack tomorrow night, during some Feast for Tuna, excuse me, Fortuna. Some of this I understood. While Percy was asleep, Frank and Hazel explained what was happening.

            Apparently, after the Titan War, the very earth itself, Gaea, was stirred from her slumber. And since then, she was been raising her sons, the Giants, from the depths of Tartarus (who is also her husband, if I’m remembering right) all to destroy the gods of Olympus and the world as we know it. Also, Gaea has some sort of plan for Percy, seeing as how she spared his life when he drank the gorgon’s venom.

            And then the fact that a giant named Polybotes wants to torture Percy all in order to weaken Poseidon. I don’t give a damn how powerful this Polybotes is. I don’t care if as long as Thanatos is imprisoned he can’t die. I will not stand by and let anything like that happen to my brother. But that’s if we can defeat the giant known as Alcyoneus and free Thanatos and then make it back to Camp Jupiter before tomorrow night, before the Feast, when the battle begins.

            After the plane landed, the pilot insisted that he couldn’t wait for us to finish the quest. Which was fine with me. The less time I’m in Zeus’s territory, the better. Last I heard, he still hates me for being a Shinto demigod. And the fact that his little wife is probably whispering in his ear to make me an ash stain on the ground makes me a little bit worried.

            The pilot was able to get us all a taxi to take us to Anchorage. We got one right away, which saved a lot of time. And it was a tight fit, but we were able to squeeze into the cab. After Percy told us what’s happening at Camp Jupiter, Frank and Hazel didn’t seem surprised, anxious yes, but not surprised.

Frank choked when Percy told us about Tyson. “Wait, you have a half-brother who’s a Cyclops?”

“Sure.” Percy shrugged. “My dad’s Poseidon, so it’s not as strange as you’d think. Which makes Tyson your great-great—”

“Stop, please.” Frank said, rubbing his head like he had a headache. “That’s enough.”

“And that makes me your…very distant cousin.” I said. “Let’s see, Poseidon is my great-great grandfather, so—”

“Okay, I get it.” Frank said.

“As long as he takes care of Ella.” Hazel said. “And get her to Camp. I’m worried about her.”

“Don’t worry; Tyson will take great care of her.” I said. “He might look big and, in the wrong light a little scary, but he’s as sweet as sugar.”

“I hope so.” Hazel said. “Ella’s so jumpy and easily scared.”

            Percy went quiet, which made me a bit nervous. But when he saw me staring me flashed me a smile, which put me at ease. Ever since he fell asleep, he’s been more like the Percy I know. I don’t know what happened, but I’m kinda glad.

And then I saw Percy had this dreamy look on his face. “I know who you’re thinking about.” I sung while nudging him with my elbow.

“Shut up.” he smiled, his cheeks blushing a little.

            I never realized how small the cities up here in Alaska really were. Maybe I’m just used to Seattle and New York, where everything is literally built on top of each other. But here on Highway One, which in my opinion was more like a small street, I was thinking that you could fit the whole city of Anchorage inside of Seattle. The taxi driver drove us north toward downtown. Mom never really took me out of the country growing up, so I never came this far north. It was only the late afternoon, but it was slowly getting darker.

“I can’t believe how much this place has grown.” Hazel said.

“Been a long time since you visited, miss?” grinned the taxi driver in the rear view mirror.

“About seventy years.” Hazel said, to which the taxi driver slid the glass partition closed.

“Rude.” I said. “So this place has grown since you were…uh…”

“Since I died.” Hazel said. “You can say it Tsuna.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” she said. “But yes, when I was growing up, there was none of this here. Just a few shacks, a hotel, I think a few restaurants, and the docks, but none of this.”

            According to Hazel, while the city itself wasn’t anywhere near as big as when she was here seventy years ago, the landscape itself hasn’t really changed. There was a vast forest on one side of the city, the freezing waters of the Cook Inlet on the other. In the distance were the Chugach Mountains, capped with snow already despite it being June.

            The air smelled so clean and pure. Maybe it’s a good thing that this place is so small and not over-populated. With less people, there were fewer emissions from cars, so the air was as fresh as it could be. And in my opinion, the coldness to it made it feel even more pure and clean. Even in the middle of the city were lakes and huge stretches of forests.

            But what drew my eyes were the giants. Not like the giants that the others described were raised by Gaea. I mean giant, bright blue men. All of them were about thirty feet tall, give or take a few meters. They had grey hair that was covered in frost. Some were walking through the dense forests; others were fishing in the bay. Even with the Mist in place, how exactly can the Mortals not notice something as huge as these guys?

“Uh…” started Frank, pointing to a giant washing his feet in a lake.

“Hyperboreans.” Percy said. His eyes went wide for a second, like he amazed himself at remembering their name. At this rate, I hope he remembers me soon. “Northern giants. I fought some when Kronos invaded Manhattan.”

“Wait,” Frank said. “When _who_ did _what_?”

“Long story.” Percy said. “But these guys look…I don’t know, peaceful.”

“They usually are.” Hazel said. “I remember them. They’re everywhere in Alaska. Like bears.”

“Bears?” Frank said nervously.

“They’re invisible to Mortals.” Hazel said. “They never bothered me, though one almost stepped on me by accident once.”

“As long as there’s nothing controlling them, they must be peaceful creatures.” I said. “Even the most peaceful creatures can be corrupted by the most evil of monsters.” I closed my eyes and thought back to Japan, where Shojobo, the king of the Tengu let himself get corrupted by the Orochi in order to restore Japan to its former glory. At least he redeemed himself before the Orochi destroyed him.

            Looking back at the Hyperboreans, I realized how they look like the Frost Giants from the Thor films. Maybe the designers of the Frost Giants were demigods who have seen the Hyperboreans before. Then again, the Norse Pantheon must be out there, probably even in America. Maybe their Frost Giants are actually the Hyperboreans of Greek myths. Eh, questions for later. I bet one day I’ll have dealings with the Norse…with my luck anyways.

            After driving under a Hyperborean’s legs we passed several tourist traps that sold furs, Native American Art, even gold. Why anyone would fall for these things I’ll never understand. When the driver turned and started driving us towards the seashore Hazel knocked on the glass and told the driver to drop us off here.

            We were dropped off at Fourth Street. To be honest, downtown Anchorage was tiny, no, puny. I mean, I feel that the University of Washington was bigger than this place. But for whatever reason, Hazel’s eyes lit up out of amazement.

“It’s-it’s so _huge_!” she said, turning around on the spot. “Over there, that’s where the Glitchell Hotel was. My mom and I stayed there when we first came to Alaska. Ooo! They moved City Hall. It used to be other there.”

            It was like she was in a daze as she led us through downtown. Every few steps she would tell us a small factoid of what used to be here seventy years ago. It was actually…really cute, in that adorable little sister kind of way. Percy and I weren’t paying too close of attention, though Frank was giving Hazel his undivided attention.

            I don’t think we even have a plan. All I know is that we have to get to some glacier, where the giant Alyconeus is at, or at least that’s what Hazel says. Back on the plane Hazel and Frank were discussing some ways to get there, but they wanted to talk it over with Percy after he got up…which they haven’t yet.

            I noticed that Percy was hanging back a bit, lost in thought. I slowed down to walk beside him. He didn’t really pay attention to me. I really hope his algae filled brain his bursting into flames right now. I nudged him so he would look at me.

“Hey, you alright?”

He nodded. “Yeah, just thinking.”

“What about?” He didn’t need to say anything. I could tell what he was thinking about with the look in his eyes. “Annabeth.”

“Yeah.” He said. “So you haven’t heard anything from Annabeth at all?”

“Unfortunately not.” I said with a scowl. “One word from her about this exchange would have been enough to know you were safe, well, as safe as you can be.”

“I know that I can’t really speak for her, but I am sorry.”

“I’m going to pass it off as it…slipping her mind.” I said. “But she and I will have _will_ have a talk when we see her again.”

“Uh, okay.” Percy said. “Just, uh, be careful when you speak to her.”

“Oh, I’ll be careful.” I said. “I have several _choice_ words for her.”

“It’ll be your funeral dude.”

            At that moment, Percy’s stomach growled, and I knew why. Something was being cooked nearby and it smelled amazing. I think it was sausage, but it didn’t smell the same. Either way, my own stomach started rumbling with hunger. When was the last time I ate? Oh right, those sandwiches that Hazel made last night.

“Food.” the two of us said simultaneously. Hazel and Frank stopped walking and looked back at us.”

“Come on guys.” Percy said, throwing his arm over my shoulder. It shouldn’t make me feel as happy as it did. “Let’s get some food.”

            In no time we found a small café that wasn’t too busy. It was located right on the beach, so people could see the freezing waters hit the beach, and maybe a few creatures from the local wildlife swimming about. Once we were sat down Frank whooped in delight when he saw the sign that said the café served breakfast all day.

“Breakfast?” Percy asked. “Dude, it’s like dinnertime.” I don’t know how he can tell; it looked like it could be noon right now.

“I love breakfast.” Frank said. “If I could, I’d eat breakfast three times a day.” Frank started blushing again. “Though, um…I’m pretty sure that whatever this place serves isn’t going to be anywhere near as good as Hazel’s.”

            Hazel’s cheeks darkened and she elbowed Frank playfully with a smile on her face. It was ridiculously sweet and (I’m really saying it guys) kawaii. They would make an adorable couple if they got together.

I nudged Percy and leaned in. “You think they’ll get together?” I whispered.

“I hope so, they do like each other, though haven’t admitted it to each other yet.” Percy said with a small smile.

But when his smile dropped, I got worried. “What’s wrong Perce?”

“It’s…it’s nothing.” I didn’t believe him.

“It’s about Annabeth, isn’t it?” He didn’t even need to confirm it, I know him too well. “Percy, I promised I would bring you home. That doesn’t just mean bringing you back to Sally. It also means that I bring you back to Camp-Half Blood, back to Annabeth.” Percy gave me a sincere smile and nodded his thanks.

            While we ate breakfast for lunch, or dinner, or whatever the meal is right now, Frank and Percy joked about eating Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, since the sausage was made from reindeer. Granted, I had to ask for pork sausage. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat reindeer. I couldn’t stop remembering the times my mom took to a Christmas village from the time I was six up until I was eleven and I was allowed to pet the reindeer. I like animals, okay? At least my chocolate chip pancakes were amazing.

            Between bites Hazel drew a very small makeshift map on a napkin. She explained that Anchorage is at the top of the Cook Inlet, and we needed to head south to her old home town of Seward. Hazel said that the glacier where the Giant is supposed to be, Hubbard Glacier, is close enough to Seward for us to get there.

“But if we go by sea it would take forever.” She said. “It would take forever.”

“But what if Percy and I make the boat go faster?” I asked.

Hazel shook her head. “The waters are too icy and there are icebergs all over. It’s too dangerous.”

“But going by land is even more dangerous.” Frank said after swallowing his last bit of Rudolph sausage. “Land means _Gaea_.”

“But we don’t really have choice.” Hazel said. “We could always see if the plane is still at the airport and fly down there, but I think the jet is too big for Seward’s airport.”

“No more planes, please.” Percy begged.

“I agree.” I said. “The less time the two of us spend in the sky, the better.”

“It’s okay guys.” Hazel said. “There’s a train we can take that will take us straight to Seward. As long as we can catch one tonight, we’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“So how far exactly is the glacier supposed to be from the town?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” Hazel admitted. “When my…when my mother took me there, we usually went by boat, but I think you can get there by plane-”

“Boat.” Percy said immediately.

“Fine.” Hazel said. “It shouldn’t be _too_ far from Seward. But that’s _if_ we can even get to Seward safely.”

“And we have how long until the Feast again?” I asked.

“Twenty four hours.” Percy said as he stared out the window. He looked deep in thought, which made me concerned. He has so much weighing on him, and despite believing me about our relationship, I don’t think he trusts me enough to help any more than I already have.

“Good breakfast.” Frank said as he patted his stomach. “Well, who’s ready for a train ride?”

            We arrived at the train station with ten minutes to spare before it chugged its way to Seward. Frank and Hazel went ahead to buy the tickets while Percy and I held back. We sat on a bench together, but while I was thinking if Tyson found Ella and Yatagarasu, Percy was staring off in the distance. I looked where he was looking and saw the black sand beach and the scary calm icy waters of the inlet.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, putting my hand on Percy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking.” Percy said.

“About what?”

“That prophecy Ella said.” he explained. “It’s freaking me out.”

“The one about Wisdom’s Daughter and Rome?” I asked.

“No-well, yeah, cause I think it’s about Annabeth, but it’s the other one I’m worried about. About a son of Neptune drowning.”

“But you can’t drown.” I said. “I mean, it’s impossible for you to drown.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s how it usually works.” he said. “But this is Alaska, Tsuna, the territory beyond the gods. I have no idea if my powers will even work up here.”

“Percy, I’m a Shinto demigod, and I’ve been able to use my powers in America, Japan. Hell, even in Canada. I’m pretty sure your powers will work.”

“But we’re different Tsuna.” he said. “I’m Greek, and you’re Shinto. The rules, or whatever, might not be the same.”

I smiled and let out a laugh. “Percy, trust me, you’re powers will be fine, and so will you. You’ve been much farther than Alaska and your abilities worked just fine.”

“Japan, right?”

I nodded. “Like I’ve been trying to tell you before, the three of us went to Japan to gather the Three Sacred Regalia.” I showed off the Treasures. “I wish you remembered Percy. We went through such difficulties there, we even took down a giant three headed snake-dragon-demon thing after we gathered the Treasures, after I di-”

“Wait a minute, you said the _three_ of us.” he asked. I nodded, but felt really, really confused. “So who went to Japan? You, me and-”

“Nico. Who else would I have chosen for the Quest?” I said.

Percy’s eyes went wide. “By Nico, do you mean Nico-”

“di Angelo, the son of Hades.” I finished. “Duh Percy. What other Nico do you know? I thought you said you were regaining your memories?”

“Tsuna you don’t understand, I knew Nico back at Camp Jupiter!” he freaked out.

“Y-you saw Nico?” I asked shocked. “How long has he known about the other camp?”

“Long enough to be considered an Ambassador of Pluto.” Percy explained.

“That long?” I asked. He nodded.

“When I met him, I had this feeling that I knew him.” Percy said. “I mean, I recognized him for gods sake. But he acted like he never met me before.”

“But how did he even know about Camp Jupiter in the first place?” I asked. “He’s a Greek demigod as well.”

“What, you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Tsuna, Hazel is a daughter of Pluto.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Jeez, and people call me a Seaweed Brain.” Percy said. “Tsuna, Hazel is Nico’s half-sister.”

            What? Nico has a half-sister? A _living_ sister? But, Hazel was dead for nearly seventy years, so how can she even be alive in the first place? I then remembered something. Right after the three of us got back from Japan, right after the Olympian Council meeting, Nico left with Hades. Maybe that’s around the same time that Thanatos got captured.

            It would make sense. Nico would tell me stories about Bianca and how much he missed her. Maybe he saw an opportunity to bring her back from the dead, but for some reason couldn’t and brought back Hazel instead. That means that Nico’s known about Camp Jupiter for much longer than anyone at Camp Half-Blood. He could have brought me there after Percy disappeared and-

            Oh my gods. _That’s_ where Nico went. All those months ago, before I arrived in Storybrooke, when he and I went our separate ways. Hazel being there at Camp Jupiter must be the reason he felt like he had a lead as to where Percy was. I mean, a second demigod haven, albeit for Roman demigods and hidden from the Greeks, would be the logical place to find Percy, since he could have ended up there eventually, which he did.

“Tsuna, you don’t look alright.” Percy said.

“I…I don’t…” I stuttered out. “It hurts Percy.”

“What do you mean?”

“It hurts that Nico didn’t trust me enough to tell me about…Hazel, or Camp Jupiter, or anything in the months we were together looking for you.” Percy looked at me with concern. “He’s my best friend Percy, I’m probably as close, if not closer, to him than I am with you.”

“Tsuna, I’m so sorry.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders to comfort me. “Have you tried getting into contact with him?”

“He won’t accept any of my Iris Messages.” I said, almost to the brink of tears. “I…I don’t know why he won’t speak to me anymore.”

“I might not have all of my memories back yet, but I remember that Nico prefers to be alone.”

“ _If only you knew the truth_.” I thought.

Hazel and Frank ran up to us, tickets in hand. “You guys ready?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I said, standing right up and walking straight for the train. I spared Hazel a quick glance, trying to understand why I never noticed her relationship with Nico before. I mean, she doesn’t even have that same death aura that Nico has.

“Uh, I’ll be with you guys in a sec.” Percy said.

“The train’s getting ready to leave, where are you going?” Frank asked.

“I need to make a call.” Percy said. “Do you have some change Tsuna?”

“Uh, yeah.” I dug out about a dollar in quarters out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Who’re you calling?”

“My mom…”

I gave Percy a sad smile, because I know how much Percy’s disappearance has affected her. “C-could you tell her I’m alright for me? I kinda left the house without letting her know after I told her about you.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.” nodded Percy.

“Percy, the train-!” started Frank.

“He’s not going to take that long Frank.” I said. “This is something he needs to do anyways.”

            The three of us got onto the train and took our seats. Frank and Hazel were getting more and more anxious with each passing minute Percy wasn’t on the train. I half wanted to tell them to relax and let Percy talk to Sally, but I can understand where they are coming from. It would be, well, bad if the train left and Percy was stuck at the station for the rest of the quest.

“All aboard!” yelled the conductor after the train whistle blew. Another minute or so later the train started to move slowly. But luckily once it started gaining speed Percy sat down next to me.

            Percy didn’t look to good. It was like he was on the verge of tears himself. But at the same time, it’s like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. I guess he really needed to talk to Sally. If I was in Percy’s position and I could talk to my mom and let her know that I was safe, just the sound of her voice would calm me.

            The train chugged along, heading south down the coast. As we were drinking some hot chocolate, I saw bald eagles soaring through the clear skies. We went over bridges that stretched across ravines that over looked rivers of crystal clear water, pooling into lakes so still and clean that they reflected the surrounding mountains like giant mirrors. In the distance I saw massive cliffs that had glacial waterfalls cascading over the sides into the rocks below.

I let out a yawn as we were passing forests practically buried in snowdrifts. “You tired?” Frank asked.

“Just a little.” I said. “I didn’t sleep all that well last night.”

Percy winced. “Sorry Tsuna.”

“I don’t blame you Percy.” I said.

“When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep?” he asked.

“Uh…I don’t know.” I admitted. “I think…three days ago, maybe? Or is it six? Monsters don’t like to give you a lot of time to rest, especially since they won’t stay dead. Either way, I was hoofing it to get to Seattle from Chicago so I could find you.”

Percy cocked his head to the side. “I’ve been wondering how did you know where to find me? I doubt you had a dream about it, what with Hera basically kidnapping me and doing everything in her power to keep me hidden.” I started messing with the ring on my left hand, the silver token of appreciation _he_ gave me.

“A frie…” What exactly is Death to me? “An…associate of mine, he said to head over to the Emerald City if I wanted to find you.”

“The Emerald City?” Hazel asked. “I don’t understand, the Emerald City isn’t real, it’s in a movie.”

I leaned my seat back and turned to face the window. “If the Enchanted Forest is real, I bet Oz is as well.” I muttered, remembering where the citizens of Storybrooke are actually from. “Seattle is called the Emerald City Hazel. It’s because of all the forests stay green all year. And if you want my personal opinion, it’s also because the musical Wicked is insanely pop-u-lar.” I actually sang that word in the tune of the song.

“You should get some rest Tsuna.” Percy said. “We’re all going to need to be at our best to fight the giants. Besides, how can you keep me safe if you’re half dead from exhaustion?”

“Percy, I’m fine.” I said. “I don’t need to-”

“Tsuna,” Percy said, grabbing my wrist. “I’ll be here when you wake up, don’t worry. Nothing bad is going to happen if you rest your eyes for a little bit.”

“Alright.” I said. “Just for a little bit.”

“I’ll wake you up once we’re in Seward.” Percy assured me. “Just get some rest.”

            It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. I just closed my eyes and fell right to sleep. And I was having such a good dream too. I was walking with Nico through some woods, heading for a clearing. Sunlight was filtering through the trees, giving the woods that medieval, mystic feel to it. Nico and I weren’t really doing anything. We were just walking side by side, our fingers just barely brushing up against each other’s. And what really made it special was that Nico was smiling, one of his real smiles that made my heart swell.

            Once the two of us got into the clearing, other people came into view. The first person I saw was Will, his blonde hair practically shining in the sunlight. He shot me a smile that made my heart skip a beat. Then there was Percy and Annabeth holding hands, waving as me and Nico walked past. There was a picnic table in the center of the clearing, filled with all sorts of good food. Paul was standing at a make shift grill over a large campfire flipping burgers, while Sally and my mom were talking and prepping the food. Even Kurama, the silver furred Kitsune was here, playing with Mrs. O’Leary.

            Other people came out of the forest to come and enjoy this get together. Yatagarasu flew out of the woods and chirped happily as he soared above us, probably challenging Blackjack and the other Pegasi. Tyson was playing horse shoe toss with a few of my friends from Camp Half-Blood, dominating Clarisse and Chris. Connor and Travis Stoll were playing a game of tag, or what I hope was tag, with a few of the other Apollo children, including Casey.

            Even a few of my friends from Storybrooke were here. Henry was being taught how to use a sword by Chiron alongside a few of the children of Hermes and Athena. Emma was getting some freshly made ice cream from Ingrid, who used her ice magic to freeze the ice cream mix. After getting her treat, Emma walked over to her parents Mary Margret and David who were talking to Ruby. Even Mr. Gold (or, should I say Rumpelstiltskin?) was here, sitting on a blanket while Belle read from a book. Ingrid saw me, and with a flick of her wrist made two ice cream cones appear in my hand, one chocolate and one strawberry. I mouthed ‘thank you’ to her after I handed Nico the strawberry cone.

            I was literally surrounded by everyone that I hold dear, by the people I love. It made me so happy to have all these connections with these people, and I was so grateful to be here with them. Everyone was enjoying themselves and were getting along.

            Nico was standing closer to me now. I felt myself blushing. Feeling brave, I reached out and took his hand in my. He seemed a little shocked at first, but then he gave me a smile and tightened his grip. Percy came up beside me and tossed his arm over my shoulder and hugged me tight.

            And then, all of a sudden, the light started to fade away. It grew darker and darker. One by one, the people in the clearing stopped what they were and walked into the growing darkness. First it was Rumpelstiltskin and Belle, then Henry and Emma. Out of the people I knew from Storybrooke, Ingrid was the last person to leave. And then everyone else started fading out, becoming transparent before disappearing completely.

“Come back!”  I called. “Don’t leave!”

            But they did, in the end. Sally and Paul, Annabeth, Will…even my own mother ended up swallowed by the darkness. It was only me, Nico and Percy left. It was then that I realized that the people who were still with me were the two I hold most dear in my heart. I held on to them for dear life, not wanting to lose them.

            However, Percy and Nico started to walk away from me. I tightened my grip on them as hard as I could, begging them not to leave. They weren’t even looking at me anymore. They were just trying to get away from me.

“Please!” I begged. “Please don’t leave me!”

            It didn’t matter what I did, in the end. The two of them ripped themselves from my grip and walked into the darkness, away from me, and leaving me alone. I fell to my knees, still reaching out for them. I called out to them over and over.

“Don’t leave me!” I cried. “Please! Come back!” I started sobbing as the last remnants of the light fell on me. It was like it was trying to prove something, prove that no matter what, I will always be alone.

“This is what you deserve.” Th…that voice…it’s… _hers_. “This is what you get for interfering in events that you have no part in.”

I brought my knees to my chest and curled in on myself as the spotlight got smaller. “Please…I…I don’t want to be alone.”

“Tsuna, you’re never alone.” I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and I looked up.

            My eyes went wide, because I never expected to see my father again. Susanoo, the god of the sea and storms was standing behind me smiling down at me. He helped me to my feet and for a moment I just stared at him. I didn’t know what was going through my head, but I practically tackled him in a hug, burying my face in his chest.

“Dad.” I said, my voice muffled.

My father hugged me close. “It’s alright Tsuna, it’s going to be alright.”

            I pulled back and saw that he looked…well, a lot younger that when I last saw him on Olympus. It was like he was in his prime, no grey hair, neatly shaven, no wrinkles, or anything of the sort. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was thirty, thirty five at the oldest.

“How-how are you here?” I asked. “You told me back on Olympus that I would never see you again.”

“Remember son that my essence is within the Kusanagi.” He smiled. “As long as you have the Sword, I will always be with you. And with the Yata no Kagami, I can enter your dreams when you need me most.”

I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. “Wish you told me that back on Olympus.”

“In his defense nephew,” a voice rang out in the darkness. “Susanoo isn’t really an expert on the Yata no Kagami.”

            I turned around and saw Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon, standing there. He was smiling this smug smile, his arms crossed. His silver hair blew around like there was wind.

“Shut it brother.” Dad said.

“Uncle Tsuki?” I asked. “You’re here too?”

“Of course!” he laughed. “I can’t let my favorite nephew be all depressed like that.”

“Indeed.” a feminine voice rang out. In a golden light the goddess of the sun appeared next to my uncle.

“Aunt Amaterasu.” I said, bowing a little. “Even you?”

“Yes dear.” she nodded.

“Is this what you meant dad?” I asked. “When you said that I would never be alone?”

“Partly.” he said. “True, you’ll never be alone as long as you have the Sacred Regalia with you, but what I really meant was this son. As long as you keep those who a dear to you close to your heart, you will be alone, even if they aren’t really there with you. But, _always_ remember that no matter what you will have me with you.” I looked down at the ground. “What’s wrong Tsuna?”

“Ever since I found Percy, I’ve felt more alone than since Nico left.” I admitted.

“Why is that?” he asked.

“Hera, or Juno, whatever she calls herself, she…she cursed me.” I said. “She took away Percy’s memories of me, and everything that even relates to me, just to torture me for interfering with her stupid plan to reunite both the Greek and Roman camps. And it happened after Percy drank the Gorgon’s Blood, so its affects aren’t defeating the curse.”

“If Percy is already regaining his stolen memories, all he really needs is an extra push to unlock the rest, even the ones about you, curse or no curse.” said Tsukuyomi.

I shook my head. “I’ve tried everything though Uncle.” I said. “I’ve tried showing him pictures, telling him about me, the adventures we shared—”

Tsukuyomi chuckled. “Tsuna, you are about as smart as your father.”

“Hey!” Dad and I said at the same time.

“I mean, no offense.” he said as he raised his hands up in defense. “What I meant to say is that you’ve had the tool to solve your problem this whole time.”

“I don’t understand.” I said.

“You’ll figure it out.” Amaterasu said. “But in the meantime Tsuna, be careful.”

“Even in our current state, we can sense something…ancient stirring.” said dad. “You’ve put yourself in the middle of a war that could shape the very foundations of the world. Please, for us, for me, tread lightly. I know you want to keep Percy safe, but I’m afraid that your quest is going to be far more difficult than you realize.”

“I don’t unde-what do you mean?” I asked.

“Be safe Tsuna.” Dad said.

            The next thing I hear is a loud, high pitched screech in my ears. It was like somebody rammed a rust dull nail into my ears. And then I was falling forward. I woke up quick enough to brace my fall after being thrown from my seat. There was broken glass on the floor and people were screaming.

  
“Percy!” screamed Hazel.

“Percy!” Frank yelled.

            I looked up and saw that Percy was in the clutches of a sleek creature that was flying up and out of the train. It had black fur, or I guess it was fur and about the size of a large Labrador retriever. It had large wings that were strong enough to carry it and a fully grown teenager of Percy’s build.

“No! Percy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	8. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first update of the New Year! Hope you guys enjoy.

            No. No, no no! I will not lose Percy again! As the beast flapped its wings to gain altitude I shot right back onto my feet and hopped onto the chair. From there I climbed to the headrest of the seat and jumped at Percy. The monster that was holding Percy wasn’t high enough out the sky light, so I was able to grab a hold of Percy by wrapping my arms around his waist.

            The monster screeched out of its eagle mouth as it nearly dropped out of the air with all of our weight weighing it down. However, it grunted and flapped its wings harder to get more airborne. It struggled but was able to lift us both out of the train car and into the cold wind. A whole pack of these flying creatures were circling around, diving to scare the Mortals. Percy yelled, out of fear or annoyance, I’m not sure, but with the way he was struggling to even move his arms I’m guessing the latter. But at the same time, I heard something whistling in the air. When I looked up I saw an arrow in the beasts’ throat.

“ _Holy hell, nice shot Frank_.” I thought, before the monster dropped us.

            Percy and I screamed as we fell. We would have been in in serious trouble if we didn’t land in a tree and have its branches cushion our fall a bit before falling into a thick snowbank. In the back of my mind I had a sense of Deja vu of when Ajari attacked me at Camp Half-Blood.

“You okay?” I asked after we stood up.

“Nothing’s broken, if that’s what you mean.” Percy said as he brushed the snow off himself.

“What are those things?” I asked.

“I think they’re gryphons.” Percy said. “Not all that sure though, I don’t remember ever fighting them before. But I think there were some back at the Amazons’ place.”

“Look!” I pointed. “They’re attacking the Mortals.”

            The gryphons were swooping down, clawing at the Mortals. I prayed that they were only trying to scare them and draw us out into the open and not trying to legitimately hurt them. I couldn’t see Frank or Hazel yet, so they must still be in the train helping any wayward passengers that hasn’t gotten off the train yet.

            Some of the gryphons spotted us and dived down to attack. I guess I did kinda stand out in the snow, what with my black hair and jacket. Percy went ahead and sliced the wing off of one of them, sending it spiraling into a tree. Snow fell on it, burying the knocked out monster. Another one he sliced clean in half. It turned to dust, but quickly reformed and took to the air.

            They kept dive bombing us, just keeping out of reach of our swords. It was really, REALLY annoying. I actually hate not having anything close to long range, well, anything. I should have just let Rumpelstiltskin teach me how to throw a damn fireball, even if for whatever reason fire related magic gave me this off feeling. Or maybe I should have begged Ingrid to teach me more of her ice magic. If Frozen was anything to go by, then ice magic would really be my cup of tea.

            I got nicked by their talons a few times. Nothing too deep, but it was throwing me off my game. Overhead several of them circled us like vultures. Four of the gryphons landed on the snow covered ground and backed Percy and I against each other. They had us cornered. They were even purring with content about how they trapped us.

Several arrows buried themselves into the gryphons. “Guys!” screamed Frank, his bow already reloaded and pulled tight. He and Hazel were running towards us, a few more gryphons chasing after them.

            Frank shot down any creature that got remotely close as fast as he could, which was pretty dang fast. Hazel was at his back, swinging her sword and utterly decimating the gryphons. But there were at least a dozen following them, and since they won’t stay dead, the two of them were getting overwhelmed.

“We need to get away from the train!” Hazel yelled over the cry of the gryphons. “The Mortals are in danger.”

“But if we leave, that’s not going to stop the Gryphons from having a snack.” I said.

“I got it covered already.” Frank said, sniping a few of the winged pests.

            Not understanding, I looked back at the train. The Mortals were running about in shock, not exactly hurt, but confused and scared for sure. They ducked out of the way when the gryphons swooped down; probably thinking they were large birds. It was like the creatures were toying with them. And then I saw that glowing gray warrior clad in camouflage—Frank’s pet _spartus_. It was defending the Mortals with its undead life.

“Use your last charge?” Percy asked. It was then that I noticed that Frank’s dragon tooth spear was gone.”

“Yeah.” Frank shot another gryphon out of the sky, where it fell on top of another. “I had to help the mortals. The spear just dissolved.”

Percy nodded, a wave of relief falling from his face. “Come on; let’s move as far away from the tracks as possible!”

            The four of us took off as fast as we could through the knee high snow. We stumbled as we trudged through the snow, slicing and smacking down any gryphon that got close. With them reforming instantaneously after killing them, added to the fact that we’re walking in snow this high, was exhausting.

            Maybe if I knew some actual ice magic, not the parlor tricks Ingrid showed me, I probably could have done something with the snow on the ground. At least she wrote down a few things in my spell book for me to try out. Unfortunately, now isn’t the time to test out any ice spells.

            The farther away we got from the tracks, the more the snow lessened. The trees soon gave way to an open marsh. The ground was spongy and icy. I heard Percy mutter under his breath that it was like walking on frozen Bubble Wrap. The scary thing is, the farther we went into this marshland the more gryphons appeared. There were so many now that Frank was about to run out of arrows and Hazel was breathing hard. I was getting tired, and Percy’s swings were getting sloppier and sloppier. With all of us as exhausted as we were, I’m surprised that we weren’t killed yet. But then I realized-they weren’t _trying_ to kill us. They wanted to keep us alive and carry us somewhere.

We came to a part of the marsh that had tall grass where Percy tripped on something. “Uh guys.” Percy said as he stood up. “We have a problem.”

            He moved the grass so we could see what looked like a birds nest made of scrap metal. It was the largest nest I’ve ever seen, far bigger than even an ostrich nest, about the size of a tractor tire. It was littered with old pieces of jewelry on the bottom, some gold weapons that looked similar Frank and Hazel’s weapons, and two pumpkin-sized that looked like real gold. At first I thought we’d have another monster to deal with, but then the gryphons screeched in desperation.

“Oh shit.” I realized. It was a gryphons’ nest. I looked around real quick and saw several others. We were standing in the middle of several gryphon nests. This was just like that one scene in Jurassic Park 3.

            The gryphons screeched again. Some of them flew over us in a circle, scowling with their bird faces while others landed and slunk their way closer, ready to pounce on us and go for the kill. They pushed us closer to a nest, which only aggravated them more. There were too many of them, and we were all exhausted.

“Any plans Frank?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I got nothin’.” That’s when Percy grabbed me and pulled me into the nest.

“What the hell?” I asked, only to see Frank and Hazel back to back with Percy and my brother putting the point of Riptide against one of the golden eggs.

“Back off or I break it!” he yelled, to which the gryphons responded by squawking angrily. Wow, you gotta admit for Percy this is pretty dark. I mean, he’s threatening an unborn baby gryphon.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Hazel said. “Gryphons collect gold, they’re crazy for it.”

Frank nocked his last arrow. “Then if these are their nests, then where did they try to take Percy? That thing was flying away with him.”

“The giant.” I put together. “Aly…something.”

“Alcyoneus.” Percy said, his face losing some of its color for a second. “Maybe they’re working for him.” He nudged Hazel. “Are they even smart enough to take orders?”

“I don’t know.” Hazel said. “I never fought them when I lived here. I just read about them at camp.”

“How about weaknesses?” I asked as I stood up.

“Oh gods, please tell me they have a weakness Hazel.” Frank said.

“Uh…horse, I think.” Hazel scowled. “They hate horses—natural enemies, or something. I wish Arion was here!”

“We need to come up with something fast.” I said. “Percy’s threat isn’t going to keep them at bay for much longer.”

            As if on cue, a gryphon shot down from the sky. Percy saw it coming and raised his sword to smash the egg. The creature veered off at the last second. I looked around and saw that the other gryphons were losing their patience. Percy’s standoff with them wasn’t going to last much longer.

Frank swallowed a lump in his throat. “Uh guys, I’m seeing Legion weapons in the nests.”

“I know Frank.” Percy said.

“That means other demigods died here, or—”

“It’ll be alright Frank.” promised Percy as he looked around the area. I personally couldn’t take my eyes off the gryphons or else I’d probably be sliced to ribbons. “Guys, I have an idea. Hazel, can you think you can use all the gold in these nests to make a distraction?”

“I—I guess.”

“Just give us enough time for a head start.”

“Head start for what?” I asked.

“Just follow me.” he said. “When I give the signal, run for that giant.”

“You want us to run _toward_ a giant?” Frank yelled, his voice cracking almost hilariously.

            I had to look around myself to see what giant Percy was talking about. When I saw it, it was sitting in a bog soaking its feet in the mud. I must have been way too distracted by the gryphons to have noticed it in the first place. It wasn’t too far away, but we’d have to be quick on our feet to reach it. Although I still didn’t understand Percy’s plan, though when do his plans ever make that much sense to begin with.

“Trust me.” Percy said. We all readied ourselves, waiting for the signal. “Ready? Go!”

            The moment Hazel thrust her hand upward all the gryphon nests exploded like geysers, spraying golden treasures—jewelry, weapons, coins, gold nuggets, even the gryphon eggs. The monsters shrieked in fear as they flew at top speed to catch their precious eggs. It’s kinda sad, really, that we had to threaten and use their children to save our own skin, but that’s the way the world works I guess.

            The moment the gryphons were in the air we ran. The ground splashed and crunched beneath our feet, the frozen marsh being annoying to cross. We ran as fast as we could, pouring on all the speed we could muster, but even with our head start and the distraction of the golden geysers the gryphons were on our heels, angrier than ever.

            I should be thankful that the Hyperborean giant didn’t notice us as he was cleaning in between his toes of mud and frozen toe jam. Though how he couldn’t with all the screeching behind us is beyond me. But if he did notice us, it would make running away so much more difficult. I mean, how the hell would we be able to fight a Frost Giant anyways? Steal Thor’s Hammer? I don’t even know where to get it.

“Under!” Percy yelled. “Crawl under!”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me!” I yelled. That sounded so disgusting, I mean, how would we even know if he took a bath in a lake recently? What if they don’t wipe after going Number 2?

“Just do it Tsuna!” Percy screamed, practically dragging me under with him when he grabbed my wrist and dove to the ground.

            We scrambled between the massive and, dare I say, chilly, blue legs of the giant. We flattened ourselves into the mud the best we could and army crawled as close as we could to the giant’s (excuse me while I throw up in my mouth for this part) loincloth. I will admit that from what I could tell (or willingly remember) that it was cleaner than I had feared, but I still had to breathe through my mouth. Well, we all did. It wasn’t the most pleasant of hiding spots.

“What’s the plan from here Percy?!” Frank asked. “Get flattened by a giant blue rump?!” Ha, he said rump.

“Just stay low, only move if you have to.” Percy explained. He was trying his hardest not to take too deep of breaths.

            It didn’t take longs for the gryphons to realize where we were. They tried to dig their way underneath the giant to get to use. Their sharp beaks and talons scratched the giant enough to garner his attention as they swarmed around him. He shifted about, probably trying to swat the gryphons like flies. But in doing so I had the unfortunate chance of seeing a white haired, ice crystal covered ‘rump,’ as Frank would say, which Percy had to roll out of the way to avoid being sat on. Now I wish I could get rid of that memory.

“Ruh?” bellowed the icy behemoth. “Ruh!”

            He took a deep, long breath and blew out a wave of ice cold air. Even being under the giant didn’t protect us from the intense temperature drop. The cries of the gryphons just stopped on a dime and I heard several loud _thunk, thunk, thunk_ s of objects hitting the ground, with the sound of something shattering here and there.

“Come on.”  Percy whispered. “Be careful.”

            The four of us slowly crawled out from underneath the giant. After coming out of…that place which I will never repeat I was again…it was a beautiful sight. Practically the entire marsh was frozen. The trees were glazed with frost, large icicles hanging from their branches. In an instant it was like there was a snowstorm that fell overnight. It was beautiful, a winter wonderland created in just a few moments.

            The only thing really marring the sight was all the frozen gryphons. I mean, they were frozen solid. They stuck out of the ground like feathery Popsicle sticks. The shattering that I heard was the frozen creatures breaking apart on contact with the ground. There was a piece of one there, and over there…and over there…

            Frank was whisper yelling at us in his overly worried way to tread lightly while we were still near the giant. Though he shouldn’t have worried so much. The Hyperborean was too distracted by tying pieces of the broken gryphons to his necklace, which for some reason had a toilet attached to it, among other things.

“Percy,” Hazel asked once we had some distance from the giant, “How did you know the giant could do that?”

“I almost got hit by Hyperborean breath once.” Percy said. “Back during the Battle in Manhattan.” He took a breath and looked back at the giant. “We better get moving. The gryphons won’t stay frozen forever.”

            We decided to keep close to the tracks so we would know where we were going, but we hid in the cover of the trees as much as possible. After what just happened, it was a good idea. Especially since we started hearing the shrieks of the unfreezing gryphons. I guess the lack of death allowed them to thaw a lot quicker. At least they sounded a far way off, that’s something.

            It took forever for the sun to go down. But when it did, I just wanted to lie back (despite the snow) and just look at the moon pale full moon and the stars in all their glory. There were so many, far too many to even begin to count, and the night sky was so clear you could just make out the galactic cloud of the Milky Way. Traveling with Nico while we were looking for Percy I saw the sky like this a lot, but it still astounds me to see every time. And this was before the Northern Lights started to appear, slowly fading in like a ghostly wave of colored light rippling back and forth. They were so beautiful, and despite the circumstances, I was glad to see it.

“That’s amazing.” gawked Frank.

“It is, isn’t it?” I asked. “Y’know, this has to be one of the most magical things I have ever seen.”

“I cried the first time I saw the lights.” Hazel admitted. “My mother was herself for a moment when we first moved up here and saw them.” A tear fell from her eye, so I went to comfort her but Frank beat me to it. “Thank you Frank. I’m fine now.” Something roared in the distance, and it was far too close for my comfort. “Bears.” She pointed across the meadow where a couple of brown bears were lumbering around. “They won’t bother us. Just give them a wide berth.”

            None of us disagreed. Personally, bears are some of the few animals which I don’t particularly care for. Don’t know why, just never cared for them. Maybe it’s because of how terrifying they can be, or their size. Either way, I made sure to stay as far away from the bears as possible.

            Percy seemed deep in thought again. Whatever’s happening with this quest and Gaea and his kidnapping must have struck a nerve with him like nothing else has. Something in him has changed, and I wish I knew what, or what to say. Percy looked back up to the sky before he noticed me looking at him. He smiled and threw his arm over my shoulders, but I knew him well enough to know when he’s smiling it hide his real emotions.

            After a couple of hours we stumbled on a tiny little village that sat between the tracks and a small two-lane road. The town limit sign said it was called Moose Pass, which would explain the moose statue. Oh wait, that’s an actual moose. Okay then…

            When I say this place was tiny, I mean _tiny_. There was literally nothing around. We passed a closed post office and very small houses. And there were like five actual houses, the rest of the homes in this town were trailers, and there wasn’t a lot of those either. Nothing was open, not that I would expect them to be at this hour. We ended up finding a small grocery store on the other side of town.

            I practically moaned in happiness when I saw the picnic table. The others gave a look that basically said that I was weird, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. I walked over to table and sat down, finally feeling how cold and sore my feet were.

“That’s so wrong.” Frank said. I turned to look to see what he was talking about to see a sign above a rusted old petrol pump that said Moose Pass Gas. I was too tired to let out a ‘that’s ironically stupid’ kind of laugh.

            As soon as she sat down Hazel put her head in her hands and fell straight to sleep. She even started snoring in a cute, puppy way. Frank took out some of his remaining soda and granola bars from the train and split them between the three of us.

“Thanks man.” I said after taking a sip of Sprite.

“No problem.” Frank said.

It was quiet while we ate, watching the skies and the stars above. “Percy, did you mean what you said earlier?” Frank asked, breaking the silence.

“About what?” Percy asked.

“About…being proud that we’re related.”

Percy smirked a little and tapped his granola bar on the table. “Well, let’s see.” He began counting off with his hand. “You single-handedly took out three basilisks while I was sipping green tea and wheat germ.” Wait, what? “You held off an army of Laistrygonians so that our plane could take off in Vancouver. You saved my life, not for the first time if you remember, when you shot down that Gryphon—”

“Nice shot by the way.” I added. Frank nodded in my direction, blushing in embarrassment.

“And then you used the last charge of your magic spear to protect some defenseless Mortals.” finished Percy. “You are, hands down, the nicest child of the war god I’ve ever met…maybe the _only_ nice one.”

“To be fair Perce, Clarisse does have her good moments.” Percy smiled and rolled his eyes.

“But what do you think Frank?” Percy asked. “Am I proud of you? Yes, I am.”

Frank sighed and looked back up at the starry sky, the Northern Lights reflecting in his eyes. “It’s just…I’m supposed to be the leader of this quest.” Oh. Didn’t know that. I just assumed Percy was in charge. “I’m the centurion here. I just…I just feel like you guys have been carrying me this entire time. And no offense Tsuna, but it’s felt a lot worse since you joined us.”

“None taken.” I said. “But Frank, I may not have known you as long as Percy or Hazel, but trust me, we’re not carrying you. You’re pulling your own weight and more.”

“He’s right.” Percy spoke up.

“But I’m supposed to have these powers that I haven’t figured out how to use yet.” Frank slumped in his seat. “Now I don’t have a spear and I’m almost out of arrows. And…I’m scared.”

“Frank…” I said, though I wasn’t sure what else to say.

Percy chuckled. “Y’know, I’d be worried if you weren’t. We’re all scared.”

“And with your powers, whatever they are, I’m sure you’ll figure them out when the time is right.” I said. “I recently learned that power, all power, no matter what it is, comes with a price. You’re life line, that flame, _that’s_ the price you’re paying for this power. The universe wouldn’t…well, it wouldn’t charge you for something you don’t have. Just give it time.”

Frank stuttered slightly. “B-but the Feast of Fortuna—”

“It’s tomorrow, after midnight, right?” said Percy. Frank nodded. “That means that it’s June twenty-fourth right now. The Feast starts tonight at sundown.”

“That just means we have to get to the glacier, kill a giant, and get back to the Roman Camp in less than eighteen hours.” I said. “Or else all hell will break lose.”

“Don’t forget that the giant is undefeatable while in his home territory.” Frank said.

“Between the four of us we’ll think of something.” Percy said before frowning. “And when we free Thanatos, he might claim your life. And Hazel’s. Believe me, I’ve been thinking about it.”

            Oh yeah, Thanatos. I almost completely forgot about him. I glanced at Death’s ring on my left hand, the white stone almost glowing eerily in the lack of light, remembering the request the Horseman gave me. Hopefully, if it actually comes to Thanatos reaping Frank and Hazel, I can talk him down.

Frank looked at Hazel, his eyes looking full of concern. “I lost my mom, my grandmother…I can’t lose her too.” He said that last part so quietly that I almost didn’t hear it. It was really, really sweet. I think that there’s more than a simple crush there in him.

“I’m not going to lose either of you.” Percy looked at Frank to get his point across, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing tight in reassurance. I’m not going to let anything happen, to any of you.” Percy now looked right into my eyes, as if he wasn’t just telling Frank this, but me as well. “And Frank, you _are_ a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you. Right, Tsuna?”

I nodded. “I might have been a part of this world for long, but I do know a leader when I see one. You might be a bit insecure, but I’m positive that in time, you’ll see yourself as the leader we all see you as.”

“Thanks guys.” Frank said, wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he broke down in tears.

Percy rubbed Frank’s back before standing up. “I’m going to scout around the area real quick, make sure that there’s nothing around.”

“Be careful Percy.” I said.

“Yeah, yeah.” He said, waving me off.

            This just left me and Frank alone. In all honesty, it was kind of awkward. Since I joined them, Percy and Hazel were buffers between Frank and I. That didn’t sound as nice as it did when I thought it, but I couldn’t think of a better word. I mean, it’s not like we’ve had a lot of chances to just sit down and get to know each other. I know I can trust him, and he can trust me, and that’s all that should matter.

            Thinking back to what Percy said, about everything Frank has done for him, I am happy that they met. I have a feeling that Percy wouldn’t have made it this far without Frank and Hazel, and Frank’s been a good source of strength and inspiration. Something that a child of a war god should be in my opinion, not a battle hungry roid-rager like most of the Ares campers are.

“Frank.” The Chinese boy looked up with slightly red, drowsy eyes. “I know that we don’t know each other all that well, but I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for Percy since you’ve known him. I am proud to be related to you too, as distant as it is.”

“Oh, uh, thanks Tsuna.” Frank said. “That means a lot.” He let out a yawn and laid his head on the table. Pretty soon his breathing evened out and he was sound asleep, his snoring in harmony with Hazel’s.

“Get some sleep big guy.” I said with a small laugh. “Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

Percy came back a few minutes later. “They asleep?” I nodded.

“Anything out there?”

“Nope.” he shook his head. “It’s all quiet, save a few wild animals. It’s kinda nice actually.”

“Yeah.” I looked back up to the sky, marveling at the stars. I took a deep breath, taking in all the cold, fresh pine air. “You should rest for a bit. I’ll keep watch.”

“Are you sure?” Percy asked. “You can get some rest first, I can stay up.”

“I did have a nap on the train, remember?” I asked shaking my head. “I’m fine. It’s for the best that you get as much rest as you can. You’re going to need it for tomorrow, no doubt about it.”

“Right.” Percy grabbed his backpack and used it as a makeshift pillow. His breathing evened out and he was fast asleep. Hopefully his drool doesn’t freeze him to his backpack.

            I let out a breath, seeing it in the cold night air. The moon looked really big tonight. The moon, the stars, the Lights…it was like the universe was trying to tell me something with the way they were all together like this. I just stared at the moon, hypnotized by it. But then something came to mind.

            I took my necklace out of my shirt and removed the Mirror from it. The Yata no Kagami grew to its original size in my hands. I stared at my reflection in the black glass, illuminated by the lights in the sky. Tsukuyomi said I’ve had the power to return Percy’s memories this entire time. Did he mean to use the Mirror? I thought it could only make illusions that actually seem so real that they can affect you physically. But there according to my father, the Treasures did have abilities that I have yet to discover. Maybe, just maybe, I can return Percy’s memories.

            Despite how late it was, I didn’t feel all that tired. Maybe it’s all the adrenaline still in me after today. Either way, I didn’t feel the need to wake the others up so they can take their turn to keep watch. The sun started to rise after a few short hours, maybe three or four in the morning. It was at this time the owner of the store drove up to open for the day.

“Guys, wake up.” I nudged them all awake. “Wake up!”

“What are you four doing here?” the owner asked after he stomped his way over to us. “You know it’s illegal to do that right?”

“Sorry sir.” I said, being the negotiator since the others were still drowsy. “It’s just that, the four of us walked our way here after getting clear of that train wreck last night. We didn’t know where we were going and we just collapsed here.”

With the mention of the train wreck the owner’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “Oh God, you poor kids. You must be freezing. Come on in, I’ll get you guys some food and coffee.”

“Thank you sir.” I said.

            The others were more or less awake now. Once the owner opened up the store he brewed a fresh pot of coffee and gave us all a few doughnuts to eat. He even let us have some fruit too free of charge, which was nice of him. When we told him that we were trying to make our way to Seward he said he had a friend who had a cabin close to the town. We waited for about a good ten minutes after he called his friend to get a ride.

            His Inuit friend was a leathery old man that smelled like smoked salmon. Don’t know why that’s the first thing I noticed about him, but it was. You know, despite living in Seattle pretty much all my life I’ve never really cared for fish, taste or smell. Anyways, we all piled into the beat up old truck that’s probably older than Hazel, as least that’s how it looks like. Frank and Hazel sat in the back while Percy and I squeezed into the front with the driver. Percy sat in the middle while I was next to the door. I was a little tired because I stayed up all night, so I put my hood up and laid my head against the window to just rest my eyes. Percy, on the other hand, had to listen to the old man’s stories about the Inuit gods.

“-And then there’s Bear, or as my people call him, Nanook.”

“Doesn’t that mean Polar Bear?” Hazel asked from the back.

“Yes it does miss.” said the driver. “Nanook is the master of bears. He’s powerful and mighty, and almost a man.” What does that mean, ‘almost a man?’ “We worship him because it was Nanook that decided if the Inuit would have successful hunts. In order to appease him, after bear hunts we would hang a bear hide in a special place in igloos for several days and offer the bear’s spirit tools which they would take to the afterlife with them. But as important as Nanook is, there are few gods as mighty as Raven, Tulunjigraq. He is the one that brought light to the world by breaking the skin of the sun with his beak. Without him, life would never have truly begun.”

            Wow, there’s so many gods in Inuit mythology. I wonder, are they here, in Alaska right now? The Shinto gods are real, the Greek gods (well, I guess I should say Greco-Roman gods now since they’re basically the same if I’m understanding Hazel and Frank correctly), the Egyptian gods a real (thank you Anubis), hell, Death himself is real. If the Inuit Pantheon is here, and _if_ they know what’s happening in their part of the world, would we meet them, and if they didn’t kill us on sight would they help us? Any help would be, well, helpful. But I doubt it. Unless it’s necessary, other pantheons don’t seem to come into contact, myself excluded obviously.

            As the old man was finishing his story about the Inuit sea gods the truck started making a sputtering sound, before breaking down all together. The old man was able to pull over safely to the side of the road. He didn’t seem all that surprised that his truck broke down, like it’s something that happens every day or something. He said we could wait for him to fix it up, but he said that Seward was only a couple of miles away, so we decided to walk there.

            It was midmorning when we climbed over a hill in the road. From the top we could see a small town in a bay surrounded by water on one side and mountains on the other. The town was thin, in the formation of a crescent. It wasn’t all that modern, like say, Seattle or New York, even Anchorage. In fact the most modern thing that I could make out was a cruise ship floating in the harbor.

“Seward.” Hazel said, and she didn’t sound happy about seeing her old home. Not that I can blame here, since she died here.

“Come on, we’re running low on time.” Percy said. He’s right. We needed to get going if we’re going to have any chance of getting back to Camp Jupiter by sundown. And instead of taking the curving road we were going to cut through the meadows.

That is, until Hazel screamed. “Percy, no!!” In an instant, Percy was sucked into the ground. The earth literally swallowed him whole. I stood there in shock as I watched the ground closed over his head.

“Percy!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

            I tried to jump in and save him but Hazel pulled me back and jumped in herself. Before I could say anything I saw the rope that was sinking. Frank had a hold of it, giving Hazel enough leeway for her to search for Percy, but was holding on tight enough so he can pull both Hazel and Percy back up.

            I was freaking out. They were down there for far too long, to the point where it felt like an eternity. The rope was still going down, but we were slowly getting to the end of it. All I could think about was the fact that I failed. This is so much worse than Percy not knowing who I am. I failed to bring him home safely. That’s the whole point I joined him on this quest, just so I can bring him home alive. It god so bad that I started hyperventilating at the thought I lost someone else that I love.

“Tsuna I need your help.” Frank yelled.

“No.” I whispered.

“What?!” Frank asked.

“I. Am not. Losing him again!!” I screamed.

            I ran to the edge of the sinking mud and got on my knees. Just out of instinct, my emotions in control, I thrust my arm out over the mud. My hand started glowing and out of my palm shot out sea green tendrils of light that went straight through the mud. I could feel the tendrils flowing through mud.

            And then I found him. The tendrils grabbed Percy. I didn’t know how I knew it was Percy, I could just feel it. And after another few seconds I sensed that Hazel had found Percy herself. I wished for them to appear right next to me safe and sound, but nothing was happening. For some reason I felt that something was trying to suck Percy deeper down, with Hazel along with him. However, I was able to keep them from sinking.

“ _Why don’t you let them go, young Tsunayoshi_.” Where, where did that voice come from? It sounded like it was in my head, and it sounded unbelievably old. “ _This isn’t your battle to fight_.”

“ _Who are you_?” I thought.

“ _Someone far beyond your comprehension boy_.” said the voice. “ _Let Jackson and the girl go, and you’ll be able to walk away alive_.”

“ _That’s not going to happen_.”

“ _But why not_? _Percy doesn’t remember you, and he never will. Hera’s little curse will last forever, no matter what you think you can do. Why would you torture yourself with an idea that will never come to fruition? Just let go, and then walk away._ ”

“ _How about this: fuck off_. _I don’t care what you say. I don’t care how powerful you think you are, or even what you are. I_ will _save my brother, and Hazel, no matter what._ ”

“ _You have no real power_.”

“ _Really? Then how am I doing this?_ ” I pulled back my arm and sensed Percy and Hazel slowly coming back up to the surface.

“ _You will die for this boy._ ”

“ _I don’t care. I died for him once; I’ll gladly do it again. But I will not lose anyone else EVER again!!_ ”

The voice was silent for a moment. “ _Very well then, son of Susanoo, have it your way. But know this; your interference won’t change anything. You will suffer boy, in time. And if you think Hera is cruel, just wait._ ”

“Tsuna I need your help!” Frank screamed. “Hazel’s pulling on the rope!”

            I kept my hold on Percy while I ran over to Frank. I grabbed the rope with my free hand and together with Frank pulled with all my might. In far too much time for my like, even though it had to be only a few short minutes, Hazel, with her arms wrapped around Percy’s waist, rose out of the muck. As soon as they were on solid ground the tendrils disappeared and I felt more exhausted than I have been before. I didn’t have time to worry about myself. Percy wasn’t breathing.

“Percy!” I cried.

            I rushed over and laid my hands over his chest. I did chest compressions to help, but I think CPR is the way to go. I breathed into his mouth and did more chest compressions. I was about to give up and use the Magatama to heal him but he soon started to cough. He turned over and started hacking up the mud in his chest like a cat with a hairball.

            I stared crying in relief. Percy was alive, and more or less unharmed. Probably scared out of his mind, although his lips were a bit too blue for my liking. As soon as he sat up on his haunches I pulled him into a tight embrace, hugging him close and crying on his shoulder, not giving a damn about the mud now caking my clothes.

“Tsuna—” he started.

“I thought I lost you again.” I cried.

             I felt Percy stutter for a moment, not knowing what to say. Instead of saying anything he just wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me back, and it made me happier than I have been in a long time. Once we separated Percy smiled that cocky smile of his proving that he was alright. I looked over at Frank, seeing him comforting Hazel and wiping the mud from her face with extra clothes from his back pack.

“Hazel, thank you.” I said. She looked up and me and smiled. I walked over with my arms spread to give her a hug of her own. “Thank you so much. You saved—”

Frank pulled Hazel away and stood in front of her, pointing his last arrow right at me. “Stay away from her.”

“Frank what are you doing?” Percy coughed out.

“You didn’t see it guys.” Frank said. “He was doing this…this insane thing with his hand. It started glowing and this light came out and went straight into the mud. And then his Treasures started glowing too. I mean, even your eyes were kinda glowing!” Wait, my eyes were glowing? I never noticed. “Nothing about what he did was something a demigod can do, or even a god. What in the Underworld was that?!”

“Frank, it was magic.” I explained. “Didn’t you see me put Percy to sleep back on the plane?”

“Magic?” Frank asked. “You said you were the son of Susanoo, not Trivia.”

I rubbed my temple. “Trivia must be Hecate-listen Frank, I didn’t consciously use magic there. It was just raw, in the moment emotion. I can’t really control my magic, I’m still learning.”

“So you weren’t trying to hurt Percy and Hazel?” he asked timidly, lowering his bow.

“Why. The _Hell_. Would I try to harm the two of them?” I asked angrily. “They’re my friends, you’re my friend Frank. Don’t let what you’re dad said about me cloud your mind.”

“Sorry.” Frank said. “But what are those things around your neck?”

“Frank, I’ll gladly tell you, but maybe we should continue getting to Seward.”

“Right.” Frank said. We made our way back to the road and walked along the side of it, making sure to stay as far away from the muskeg, as Hazel explained it, as possible.

“So, you know how I said I was the son of Susanoo?” he nodded. “Well, these are the Treasures of the Shinto Pantheon. The jewels are the Yasakani no Magatama, the symbol of the queen of the Shinto gods Amaterasu. Then the mirror, the Yata no Kagami, is the symbol of my moon god uncle Tsukuyomi. And then my sword is the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the sword of my father Susanoo.”

“Those are what you went to Japan for, right?” Frank asked.

“Yeah. Percy, Nico and I fought so hard to get them, and—” Hazel let out a gasp.

“Hazel, what’s wrong?” Percy asked as he rubbed his shoulders to get warm.

“You said Nico.” she said. “How do you know my brother?”

“He’s my b…he’s my best friend.” I said.

“Nico…” Hazel started. “Gaea…when I was trying to save Percy, Gaea told me that Nico was captured while he was looking for the Doors of Death. I don’t want to believe her, but she said that she had no reason to lie to me.”

“You-you saved me Hazel.” Percy said. “We’ll figure out how to help Nico, I promise you. But we need to finish this quest first, as much as it pains me to say it. Nico would want us to do it.”

“I know. Thank you Percy.” Hazel said. She shivered, so Frank put his jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm. “We should get going. We’re losing time.”

“Uh, you think there are any hotels or something where we could clean off?” Percy asked. “I mean…hotels that accept two mud people?”

“I’m not sure.” Hazel looked towards Seward, probably shocked to see how much its changed since she died, just like Anchorage. “Actually, I might know of a place where we can freshen up. Follow me.”

            The three of them went on a head. I walked behind them at a slower pace. I can’t believe it. Nico, captured? That doesn’t sound like the Nico I know. He’s one of the most powerful people I know. It would take _a lot_ to catch him off guard, let alone capture him. But if Gaea was telling Hazel the truth-

“Tsuna, come on!” Percy yelled.

            I was so distracted that they were pretty far ahead of me. I ran up to catch up, but I still hung back a few feet. I clutched my chest, just over my heart and thought of whatever horrible situation Nico is in.

“Nico, I swear on my _life_ that I will save you…no matter the cost.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	9. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy

            Hazel took the lead as she led us through town. She was careful to make sure we were practically in the middle of the road to avoid any more of the muskeg-quicksand pits. Luckily for us that this area was _sparsely_ populated, so the lack of cars was nice. The farther away from those pits the better. No need for Gaea to suck us down into her cold embrace.

            We passed by the train station while walking along Third Avenue. It was closed down, for obvious reasons, and a few police cars parked there. I would have thought that they would have gone to the crash site, but I’m not a cop, so what do I know? Hazel’s eyes looked a little…misty, I guess. She must be hit with all kinds of emotions at once. I mean, she _died_ here. She literally is experiencing two whole worlds while leading us…to where ever she was taking us.

            She kept telling us that she was fine and that the town hasn’t changed all that much, but at the same time saying it’s completely different now. We almost stopped at the Seward Hotel, a two-story white building that look cozy. Hazel said that we probably wouldn’t get a room or anything though, since a.) most of us were caked in mud from head to toe and b.) we’re minors. Although, that minor part never really affected me all that much when I was traveling cross country and needed a room for a night. But then again, they were kinda shady, cheap places that I chose…

            Instead of a comfy-cozy hotel that I am a hundred percent positive that had a working shower, Hazel turned us towards the shoreline. I don’t know what Hazel was thinking, but a dip in freezing sea water wouldn’t really help us get clean all that well. But she led us to a barnacle encrusted pier where a small, dingy shack sat. And I by dingy, I mean it was falling apart! With the roof sagging, the windows boarded up, holes in the walls like someone took a shotgun and fired blindly, I’m surprised the city hasn’t just torn it down by now. Hazel stopped us at the front door, which has a sign that said: ~~ROOMS—STORAGE AVAILABLE~~.

Hazel let out a sigh. “Come on.” She went for the door knob, only for the rusty thing to creak and moan before she gave up. We went around the shack where we luckily found an open window. “Welcome to my home guys.” she said after we crawled through the window.

“Uh, are you sure this place is safe?” Frank asked, practically falling on his face when he crawled through the window.

            He had a point. This place is a health inspector’s nightmare. This place clearly hasn’t actually been used for its intended purpose for years. Our feet kicked up dust with each step that swirled in the sunlight that snuck its way in from the holes in the structure. Along the walls were cardboard boxes that were growing with mold. Their faded labels said: _Greeting Cards, Assorted Seasonal_ , and other weird things related to various holidays.

            The most disgusting thing about this place was that it smelled. And not just the clearly musty, dusty smell. It smelled like weed, and trust me; I’ve known enough people in my life that were ripe with the stuff that I can identify the smell in an instant. Hazel’s old home must be a local hangout for the druggies.

“As safe as any other place, I guess.” Hazel said.

“Yeah, it’ll have to do.” Percy said, though he was eyeing an odd spot on the floor that made him grimace.

“At least it’s warmer in here.” Frank said. “I guess there’s no running water? Maybe I can go shopping since I’m not muddy as you two. I could find us some clothes.”

            Hazel nodded, but I think she was only half listening to him. She went over to a stack of boxes and climbed over them. The three of us wondered what she was doing, before we heard her sniffle and hold back her tears. Frank went straight over to her, climbing the boxes like a mountain goat. Percy and I climbed over and realized that Hazel was crying because there were pictures tacked onto the wall.

            There were several children’s drawings. Looking closer, they kinda, sorta’ looked like a Mardi Gras parade. These must be Hazel’s pictures from before she died. That’s the only thing that makes sense, since she said she lived in New Orleans. And there were photos of Hazel as a little girl with her mother. Looking between the picture of her mother and Hazel herself, I realized how much she looks like her.

            Another picture was of a boy at a carnival. He had this crazy grin on his face, as if he was about to do something stupid, dangerous, and utterly hilarious. His black curly hair was hanging in his eyes, but that didn’t hide the spark of mischief that was shining in them. He had a stick of cotton candy in his hand and it looked like he was offering it to someone.

“Who’s…” Frank started to ask, but Hazel let out a small held back sob so he stopped. “Sorry, Hazel. This must be really hard. Do…do you want some time—”

“No.” croaked Hazel. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine.”

“That’s your mother, isn’t it?” Percy asked, pointing to the picture of Hazel and her mother standing in front of a shop. “She looks like you. She’s beautiful.”

“Thanks Percy.” Hazel said.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like for you Hazel.” I said. “Dying in one century and being brought back in this one, it must have been overwhelming.”

“It still is.” admitted Hazel. “There’s just so many new things in this time, like computers and cell phones, and how big televisions have gotten. And people are a lot kinder nowadays to people of color.”

“Hey Hazel, who’s this?” Percy asked, pointing to the picture of the boy at the carnival. Was it me, or did Percy looked spooked?

“That’s…that’s Sammy.” Hazel said with a small blush on her cheeks. “He was my-uh-friend from New Orleans.” From the way she was blushing and not looking at Frank, I’m going out on a limb and say this Sammy was a bit more than a friend to Hazel.

“I’ve seen him before.” Percy said as he scratched his head. It was as if he was trying to remember where he saw him before.

“You couldn’t have.” Hazel explained. “That photo was taken back in 1941. Sammy…he’s probably dead now.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Percy said. “Still…” He shook his head, as if the knowledge of where he saw Sammy’s face before could be shaken out of his head.

“It’s a little dark in here.” I said trying to diffuse…whatever’s in here. “Do you think we could find some candles or something?”

“Maybe.” Hazel said. “Who knows what they threw in here the past seventy years.”

“ _If this place is used for what I think it’s used for, there’s bound to be something to set the mood_.” I thought. No need to dirty what little good images Hazel has for this place.

            It didn’t take too long to find a box of candles. And it’s a good thing I found it before anyone else did. Hidden inside along with the candles was what you’d expect out of a ‘love shack.’ I’d rather not go into the details, but use your imagination to what druggie teenagers would keep in here without any adult supervision in a town with literally _nothing else_ to do. Yeah…

“So you found some candles, how are we going to light them?” Frank asked. “You have any matches or a lighter.”

“Believe it or not,” I chuckled as I set the candles up, “I’m an expert to lighting candles after my…training.”

“Training with…what?” Frank asked.

“Magic, of course.” I said with a smile. I was about to flick my wrist when I noticed that the others were leaning in close to get a good look at my magic. “Okay, guys, back off a little bit. I’m just lighting a few candles.”

“Oh, sorry.” Hazel said.

“Sorry Tsuna.” Percy said. Frank went red in the face with embarrassment.

“Thank you.” I said. From there I took a deep breath and flicked my wrist and…nothing happened. “Huh?” I flicked my wrist again and, again, nothing happened.

Percy laughed out loud before clapping my shoulder. “Having performance issues man?”

I shot him a look out of the corner of my eyes that screamed I was not amused. “At least you didn’t forget your sense of humor.” I tried again, but still the candles wouldn’t light.

“Tsuna, you don’t have to do this. We won’t be staying too long anyway.” Hazel said.

“I know.” I admitted. “But this is like wound on my pride if I can’t light a candle after all that abuse from Mr. Gold”

“Who?” Percy asked.

“Oh, uh, Rumpelstiltskin.” I clarified.

“The guy who spun straw into gold?” Frank asked. “He’s actually real?”

“Yep.” I said. “He can be a nice guy when Belle’s around, but when she’s not, he can be a, well, a real Dark One.”

“I don’t get it.” Hazel said.

“You’d have to have been there.” I said.

            I can be really stubborn at times. I can admit that. But after all that work with Rumpelstiltskin learning how to use magic, I really needed to prove to myself that all that time I was in Storybrooke wasn’t a waste. I took another deep breath and looked back to my lessons with Rumpel and Ingrid. Focus on the moments when I was so angry to fuel the magic, and also on all the happy, loving memories to ignite that fuel and keep it in check. I stared right at the candle wicks and with a third flick of my wrist the candles were lit.

“Finally.” I said as I ran my hand through my hair.

“Good job Tsuna.” Hazel said.

“Huh, nothing was glowing on you.” Percy pointed out. That’s odd. Whenever I’ve been able to actually use since I’ve left Storybrooke, the Sacred Regalia would glow, as the others have pointed out. I wonder if that means I am slowly improving in my use of the art.

“So, uh, I’m going to go see if I can find a store.” Frank said. I don’t think he’s comfortable about my use of magic. “I think we passed one on the last block. Maybe I can get us some food and some clothes for you guys, and like, a million wet wipes or something.”

Hazel put a sign over the old pictures and smiled at Frank. “That would be great. You’re the best Frank.”

“Well…I am the only one not completely covered in mud anyway. Be back soon.” Frank said before he climbed out the window.

            I laughed a little to myself when Frank had some slight trouble climbing back out of the window, but stopped because that wasn’t really nice. Looking over at Percy, I noticed that he had on one of his masks that he puts up. He couldn’t fool me. His near drowning must have freaked him out. He didn’t need me smothering him at a time like this.

“I, uh, I’m going to go with Frank.” I said.

“Why?” Percy asked.

“With us being so close to the giant, it’d be better if he had some back up.” I said. “Plus I can use some mud free clothes myself.”

Percy gave me a look but shrugged his shoulders. “Just be careful.”

I smiled and laid my hand in his shoulder. “I always am.” I made a face at the mud that was now on my hand, wiping it off on my jeans as I made it to the window.

            Frank wasn’t too far ahead so it didn’t take long to catch up with him. I think he was grateful for the company, because he didn’t seem too distressed about being around me. I guess he’s starting to trust me more and more despite my strange abilities and what his father said.

            Just as Frank said, there were a couple of stores just over a block away. We first stopped at a hunting store, like a very small Cabela’s. He went straight to the bow and arrow section of the store, where he picked up a new quiver filled to the brim with arrows. He asked me to go find some food here for us to eat while he went to another section of the store. There wasn’t much to choose from, mostly jerky and dehydrated food. I decided to play it safe and grabbed beef jerky (or maybe it was reindeer jerky) and a couple bags of trail mix, one of which had a large amount of dried fruit in it.

            We left after Frank found a long, high quality rope (“In case of another dip in the muskeg were to happen” Frank said.) He plans ahead, I like that. After the hunting supply store we went to a tourist store to get some clean clothes. Frank went to grab Hazel’s new clothes so I picked out mine and Percy’s.

            For myself, I chose a pair of black jeans and a black thermal shirt that went under a dark green shirt (thankfully with no stupid design meant to reflect the town.) No need to be cold on a glacier with one of Death’s workers literally looking over my shoulder. My jacket wasn’t all that dirty, so I didn’t need a new one. I ended up choosing pretty much the same thing for Percy, except his thermal was white and his shirt was blue, and his jeans were a dark blue. His current jacket is caked with mud, so I also grabbed him a new fleece jacket as well, in blue, obviously.

            I found Frank getting some mini soaps and a few packages of wet wipes. It won’t be a hot shower, but it will have to do. When we went to pay I made sure to grab a few bottles of water and some Mountain Dew (the blue kind for Percy so I could cheer him up.) I personally went with Code Red, but that’s just my personal tastes.

“Thanks for letting me come along Frank.” I said after we left the store.

“No problem.” he said. “I enjoyed the company.” He stopped in his tacks for a moment and took a deep breath in through his nose. “Smell that?”

“Oh yeah.” I said, seeing the restaurant where the smell was coming from. “I could go for a burger right now.”

“Me too.” he said. “Let’s go get the others their new clothes first.” I nodded to him, already picturing a juicy burger in my hands…with bacon…and two different kinds of cheese…I should stop before I eat some random elk that I come across. “Hey Tsuna…”

“Hmm?”

“I…I want to say I’m sorry.” he said. “You don’t deserve to be treated that way I have been treating you. I was just freaked out because of what my dad said about you, and what you did with your magic to save Percy just freaked me out. I thought that you were hurting them.”

“I don’t blame you for the way you feel man.” I said. “It’s not like I looked like the most trustworthy person when we first met. I mean, not just because of her Highness’s little curse, but I was desperate to get Percy to remember me. And then since I tagged along we broke that Rule of Three that the world seems to revolve around. And then whatever Ares, I mean Mars, said and my magic, it’s no wonder that I don’t look trustworthy.”

“But I do trust you.” Frank said. “I don’t think we could have gotten as far as we did if it wasn’t for you.”

“Thanks dude. That means a lot.”

            When we got back to the shack Frank crawled through the window with a cry of ‘Success!’ echoing across the little building. I climbed in right after him and started handing out the wet wipes and new clothes. Hazel said that Frank chose well for her (new jeans and a pink shirt with a white jacket) and went behind a stack of boxes to change and get as much of the mud off of her with the wet wipes. Us boys changed where we were, though Frank changed off to the side.

            After Percy changed he dumped a bottle of water in his hair to get the mud out, and in no time he looked like new. While we waited for Hazel to finish up I noticed that Percy staring at me, which was odd. For the past couple of days, _I’ve_ been the one staring at him, mostly trying to think of ways to get his memory back. Before I could ask him what’s wrong, Hazel walked out tying her hair back.

“So,” she said, “Now all we need is to find a boat to Hubbard Glacier.”

Frank’s stomach growled obnoxiously. “If we’re going to battle to the death, I want to do it on a full stomach. Let’s get lunch first, we have time. And me and Tsuna found a perfect place.”

            Frank went to the window and crawled out. He even was a gentleman and helped Hazel out. As I went to the window Percy laid his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey Tsuna, wait up a sec.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He said. “It’s just, when you and Frank were out shopping, me and Hazel had a talk.”

“About what?”

“Mostly about dying.” Wow, now that’s a downer. Percy’s never this way, at least not out in the open.

“Well that’s dark of you.” I said.

“Sorry, but with nearly drowning in mud and Ella’s prophecy, I’m scared.” he said. “And it got me thinking—”

“Still a dangerous concept for you.”

“Shut up.” he said. “Anyway, our talk got me thinking. I feel like all of my memories are almost back, all of them, except any of you.”

“Of course.” I said. Hate you Hera!

“But,” Percy spoke up, “I’ve decided.”

“Decided…on what?”

“In…in case anything happens, I just want to remember you. I want to remember the brother that’s fighting side by side with me.”

            I was speechless. I honestly couldn’t think of anything to say. This is the Percy I know. Someone who is kind and brave and the most loyal warrior ever. I was so happy that I felt a tear of joy slide down my cheek.

“Thank you Percy.” I cried. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“I know.” he said. “How about we walk and talk? Maybe while you’re telling me I’ll finally remember this time.”

“Maybe.” I said. My heart was beating out of sheer happiness. I raised my hand to my chest, where I felt the Regalia from under my shirt. And then I got an idea. “I actually have an idea.”

“What is it?” he asked. I pulled out my necklace and detached the Yata no Kagami, where it grew to its full size. I think Percy understood what I wanted to try. “Will that work?”

I shook my head. “Maybe, I’m not sure. My Uncle said I had the power to restore your memories. But…I don’t…”

“Tsuna,” Percy smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Whatever happens, happens. I trust you Tsuna, and I believe that you are my brother. Nobody else would do everything you did just to find me. Let’s give it a shot.”

            I nodded at him and had us sit on the floor facing each other. I looked between Percy and the Yata no Kagami, taking deep breaths. I stared at my reflection in the black glass, seeing my own self-doubt. Percy put his hand on my knee to make me look up at him. When I saw his smile, I threw away my doubt and decided to go off of my instinct.

As I placed the Mirror on the ground between us Percy spoke up. “Are, uh, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” He placed his hand on mine.

“No.” I said honestly. Percy swallowed a lump in his throat. “But Tsukuyomi, my uncle, says I can restore your memories.” He eyed the Mirror cautiously. “Percy, if you don’t want to do this I’m not—”

“No!” he yelled. “Tsuna, I want to remember. Let’s just do it.”

“Okay.” I said. “Just…go with the flow.”

            After Percy nodded his confirmation I placed my fingers on the top of Mirror. I told Percy to do the same. And from there we both spun the Mirror. It started spinning faster and faster on its own before silver light started to shine out from the Sacred Treasure.

“Open your mind Percy.” I said. “Let the Mirror’s power in.”

            Percy nodded and held his hands to the Mirror. For a few moments I thought that it wasn’t working. But then the Mirror started to spin faster and faster. The silver light was getting brighter by the second, getting to the point that it filled the shack and I had to cover my eyes and look away. I opened my eyes when the light faded. I saw that Percy was still staring right at the mirror, and I swear I saw a flash of silver in his eyes. I called out his name, but he didn’t seem to notice me.

I leaned into his space to look him in the eye. “Percy?” I asked. The silver in his eyes flashed away, leaving his green eyes looking straight into my soul. “Did…did it work?” Instead of answering me he came closer and grabbed my shoulders with both hands tightly. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his face was unreadable. “Percy—”

“Shut up.” he said before pulling me into the tightest hug I’ve ever had. “I remember. I remember everything now. Tsuna, I’m so sorry I ever forgot you. I’m so sorry.”

            I was speechless for the second time today. Percy hugged me even tighter, apologizing over and over. I started crying again and gripped the back of Percy’s shirt and held him close. We just held onto each other until Frank and Hazel jumped in, weapons at the ready.

“What in the name of Jupiter was that?!” Frank yelled.

“We saw a light coming in from in here.” Hazel said. “We thought you two were under attack.”

Percy shook his head and let out a laugh before standing up. “Don’t worry guys. Everything’s great.” He helped me up. “I remember everything now.”

“What?” Frank said. “You got your memories back? How?”

“Tsuna.” Percy smiled. “He brought back my memories.”

“Percy that’s wonderful!” exclaimed Hazel.

“Yeah man, that’s awesome!” Frank said. After we left Hazel’s home Percy and I talked about what happened since he disappeared.

“Everybody’s gone crazy, as you’d expect.” I explained. “Annabeth has been relentless in her search for you. Sally was devastated. I practically fell apart when I heard the news. If it wasn’t for Will, than I wouldn’t have been able to go look for you.”

“What did Will do?” he asked.

My cheeks started to burn with the memory. “Uh, he just helped me leave Camp to look for you. I didn’t really wait around for Chiron’s permission.”

“Reminds me of when I snuck out of Camp to go after the Golden Fleece and to save Grover.” he said.

“And I not too long after I left Camp I met up with Nico and for months we looked all over for you.” I said. “Granted, if Hazel’s been at the Roman camp since right after the Titan War, he could have told me about it, especially after this Jason was sent to Camp Half-Blood.”

“I can’t believe Nico did that.” Percy said with a scowl.

“I think he had his reasons Percy.” I said. “Nico knows how much everybody cares for you, so he had to have a good reason not to tell anybody about the Roman Camp.”

“Still mad at him.” he said. “But what happened after you and Nico separated?”

“I just continued looking for you all by myself.” I explained. “Around March I ended up in Maine, in a town called Storybrooke. I fell in love with the town, after an incident with the Minotaur—”

“Wait he’s back?!” Percy yelled.

“Oh no, I scrambled his brain.” I said. “He hasn’t shown up since, so there’s a blessing.”

“But what happened?”

“I ended up in a hospital and the town’s sheriff Emma pretty much took me in, watching over me and all that jazz.” I explained. “After killing off Mister Bull I found out that I could use magic.”

“So you can manipulate the Mist, like Thalia can, or some of the Hecate kids?”

“I think it’s different. The magic I was being taught is from another world, where the fairy tales we grew up with-Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood- they are all real people, from the world of the Enchanted Forest.”

“I don’t believe you.” he said.

“Believe me or not it’s the truth.” I shrugged my shoulders.

            After arriving at the restaurant, which was an old train car turned diner, Hazel went down to the docks to see if we could get a boat, so Frank ordered for her. The waitress was nice, she kinda reminded me of Ruby. Man I miss her, she’s a great friend. She took us to a picnic table just outside of the diner, where it was heated by those propane heat lamp/tower things.

After ordering a double bacon cheeseburger with Swiss and Cheddar I continued. “And I was taught how to use magic from Rumpelstiltskin. It was because of him that I even found out you were alive. I even had a few extra lessons from the Snow Queen.”

“Who?” Frank asked.

“Uh, I really don’t know how to describe her.” I said. “I’d recommend watching Frozen, but Elsa isn’t the same person. I think our version of her is a poem called the Snow Queen. Either way, I learned how to use magic, but I didn’t stay long enough to master it. But that’s why I have a spell book to practice. But since I left Storybrooke I’ve only been able to use magic in high emotional states.”

“Wow, Tsuna. I didn’t think you’d deal with all of that.” Percy said, munching on a steak fry.

“Thanks Perce, but what happened to you?” I asked. “When I arrived back at Camp everybody was on high alert and ready for battle. There was a war council going on with all the counselors.”

Percy shook his head. “I don’t know. The last thing I remember was kissing Annabeth goodnight at Camp the day Ares took you for whatever he wanted. I had no idea what he dragged you into. I remember staying up just waiting for you to arrive, and then the next thing I know I’m waking up with no memories and started training with wolves.”

“Wolves?” I asked.

“It’s a Roman thing.”

“Right.”

Hazel came back by the time the food arrived, and she didn’t look happy. “We’re in trouble.”

“How so?” I asked.

“I tried to get a boat. But…”

“But…what?” Percy asked.

“I miscalculated.” she said.

“What, no boats?” Frank wondered.

Hazel shook her head, her curls bouncing. “No, I can get a boat,” she said. “But the glacier is a lot farther than I thought. Even at top speed, we couldn’t get there before tomorrow morning.”

I swallowed my mouthful of burger. “But maybe Percy and I can make the boat go faster, manipulate the currents in our favor.”

“With the both of us working together, our abilities are a lot stronger, since we’re both sons of sea gods.” Percy said. “We double teamed our powers a lot back in Japan.”

“Even if you could, from what the captains tell me it’s treacherous.” Hazel explained. “There’s icebergs, and mazes of channels that you’d have to navigate. You’d have to know where you’re going.”

“But while in the sea we have a perfect sense of direction, it’s like we can see a map on the sea or something.” I said.

“Still, you’d have to still know where Hubbard Glacier was.” Hazel sighed.

“I know you two hate the idea, but what about a plane Hazel?” asked Frank.

“I asked about that.” she said. “They said we could try, the airfield is really tiny. Besides, you’d have to charter a plane weeks in advanced, and we only have a few hours.”

            Damn. Nothing seems to be going our way. Planes are a no go (though I’m not complaining too much about that.) And then the professional sailors of the area say it’s too far and dangerous to go by boat. But with Percy and I together and on the same, uh, wavelength, we should be able to navigate safely and swiftly.

            I heard a bird caw nearby. Looking up at the source of the noise I saw a raven sitting on a telephone pole. It reminded me of how much I miss Yatagarasu. I really hope he’s alright, but if Tyson and Mrs. O’Leary found Yata and Ella, than I know he’s safe. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if he took the lead to take the others to the Roman camp. Or even if he comes flying north to regroup with me. He is very protective of me, to the point I think my dad told him to keep an eye out for me before he Faded. Or even my grandfather did it since he was the first one to send Yatagarasu to look after me. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

            For the rest of the meal we ate in silence. We were all lost in our own thoughts, mentally preparing ourselves for the next battle. My mind wondered to Nico and what Hazel said Gaea told her. I still can’t believe that Nico was captured. He’s literally the most powerful person I know, with Percy the only other person I can compare him to. It would take so much to capture him. The way Hazel said it, she sounded scared that he was dead, but I don’t think he was. I would be able to feel it if he died.

            All of a sudden the raven’s cawing went from an excited cry to a strangled yelp. Frank and Percy jumped right out of their seats, weapons at the ready. They got up so fast that they nearly tipped over the picnic table. I looked up to where the raven was and saw that where the bird was perched sat a gryphon, this one extremely fat. It glared down at us before burping, and black feathers fluttered from its beak. As I stood up my sword appeared. When Hazel drew her sword the fat gryphon let out a shriek so loud that it echoed off the mountains.

“I think that’s a call for help.” Percy said. “We have to get out of here.”

“Where do we go?” Hazel asked.

“The docks.” I said. “We need to get to the glacier ASAP.”

“But it’ll take too long by boat.” Hazel said.

“Percy and I will do everything in our power to get there as fast as possible; it’s our only chance right now.”

“On the count of three make a run for it guys.” said Percy. We nodded in agreement. “One.”

“T-t-two.” stuttered Frank.

“Three!!” I yelled.

            The four of us took off sprinting towards the docks. The gryphon flew after us right away. It dived at us and when one of swung our swords it veered out of the way. For how fat it was it was pretty agile. It chased us down to an end of a pier, and unluckily for us there wasn’t a boat within reach. Too bad life isn’t like a cliché action movie where there just happened to be a speed boat right when we needed it.

            Frank and Hazel kept behind us while Percy and I were the front lines. The gryphon rose up into the air once it came to the conclusion it had cornered us. With a loud high shriek the monster dove like a missile with its front claws extended for the kill. If it hit me or Percy we would be more or less safe since at the speed it was going at the gryphon would tackle us into the water. But Frank and Hazel would get hyperthermia if they get dunked into the sea.

            I raised my hand to try to use magic, like that pulse thing I did back at Amazon HQ, but nothing happened. I really need to get a hold on my magic. Luckily Percy waved his arm and sent an icy wall of water colliding with the gryphon and washing it into the bay. It broke the surface of the water, freaking the hell out with the way it was squawking, before it scrambled to the beach and shook its black fur like a wet dog.

“Whoa, nice one Percy.” Frank said.

“Yeah, thanks.” said Percy. “Wasn’t a hundred percent sure I would be able to do that here, but like Tsuna said, I’ve been to Japan which is even farther from the gods than here. But bad news guys— look over there.”

            Following the path of his finger I saw a huge black cloud coming our way. It was a flock of gryphons, several dozens at the least. We could barely handle a small group of them. There’s no way we could handle all of those, and even _if_ we could find a boat I doubt we could get away fast enough.

“Well, I don’t plan on going down without a fight.” Frank said as he notched an arrow.

Percy raised Riptide. “I’m with you. Tsuna?”

“Do you have to ask?” I said as I spun the Kusanagi in my hand. However, and with such great relief, we didn’t have to fight this flying horde.

“Arion!!” cried Hazel, waving her arms like crazy. “Over here!!”

            All of a sudden a tan blur came shooting across the street and onto the pier. The stallion who took us from Seattle to Vancouver, the one who Hazel saved back at the Amazon’s Headquarters came right up to Hazel and leaned his head down for affection. On his trot over to us Arion stepped on the fat gryphon’s head and turned him to dust.

Hazel was squee-ing in delight. “Good horse!” She ran up to Arion and petted his muzzle. “ _Really_ good horse!”

If Percy didn’t grab his arm Frank would have fallen off the pier. “How—?”

“He followed me!” beamed Hazel before she kissed Arion’s forehead. “Because he’s the best-horse-EVER!” Hazel climbed onto Arion’s back. “Now hurry and get on!”

“The four of us?” Percy asked with a raised brow. “I don’t think he can handle all of us.” The horse whinnied in an annoyed fashion. “Jeez, all right, no need to be rude. Man, I’m kinda jealous that you can’t understand horses Tsuna.”

“Why? What’d he say?”

“Something that if mom heard me say it I’d be tasting soap for a week.” Percy said, grimacing at the image. “Let’s go before Gaea’s personal flying monkeys get any closer.”

            Percy helped push Frank onto Arion’s back before climbing up himself. They all squished together leaving no room for a personal bubble. Hazel was up at the front with Frank pressed flush against her back. If we weren’t in immediate danger I would poke fun at how red their faces were. I climbed on behind Percy and held on for dear life. I was barely on the horse as it is, and when it reared back I almost fell off, if it wasn’t for the fact I held onto Arion and Percy as tightly as I could.

“Run Arion!” Hazel cried. “To Hubbard Glacier!”

            Arion reared back again and whinnied loudly. And the next second it took off like a rocket. He shot across the water, his hooves turning the surface of the icy waters into steam. The cloud of angry gryphons and the town of Seward were shrinking in the distance, and we were heading to what could be our deaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	10. Percy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to Percy! Hope you guys enjoy!

            Oh my gods, this is amazing! Riding Arion is like being on the greatest roller coaster in the world. I was hollering and whooping like crazy. He darted around small islands, jumped over a couple of hunchback whales that came up to the surface, and when we got near icebergs my horse brother (still weird by my standards) dodged around falling chunks of ice. We passed through icy straights, raced along blue fjords and giant cliffs that had massive waterfalls falling into the sea. It wasn’t even cold, like Arion was making the air around us warmer.

            Tsuna was squeezing me way to tight. I thought he liked riding horses? He loves being on Blackjack, despite the fact that he’s _my_ Pegasus. His face was buried in my back which was really uncomfortable. After Arion made a last second dodge to get out of the way of another block of ice Tsuna squeezed me tighter. If I didn’t know better I’d think he was scared.

            But Tsuna’s never been afraid of riding horses, or anything for that matter. I remember the first time he met Mrs. O’Leary. She was nervous for some weird reason, but Tsuna loved her right away. I clearly remember that after he gave her a dog biscuit the size of a kite she pounced on him and licked him until he was soaked to the bone in drool. And in no time she let him get on her back for a ride, she even took him shadow travelling. But riding this horse was freaking him out?

When the water started to look like blue syrup Arion started to slow down before he came to a complete stop on an iceberg. “This can’t be the glacier.” I said.

“You’re right, it isn’t.” Hazel said. “We’re close though. It’s right over there.”

            She pointed just to her left, where through the mist of the cold sea I could just make out the glacier. It was a massive block of solid ice that filled a giant gorge between a series of purple snow-capped mountains. The streaks of black in the glacier made it look like dirty snow on a sidewalk. I could hear thunder in the distance, but there weren’t any storm clouds in the sky. Hazel said that the thunder noise was the sound of chucks of ice falling off the glacier. With how fast Arion could run, we’d be there in no time. But as Arion reared up Tsuna fell off.

“Tsuna!” I yelled as I hopped off.

“I’m alright.” He said, rubbing his head. I grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet. “That is nothing like riding Blackjack or Mrs. O’Leary.”

“It wasn’t too bad for you, was it?” I asked.

“I have barely any horse to sit on.”

“ _Pansy ass little bitch_.” whinnied Arion.

“Watch it Arion.” I warned. He snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Why do I have the feeling that he was talking about me?” Tsuna asked.

“Because he was, and he shouldn’t have said it.” I said.

Tsuna leaned so he was looking around me to glare at Arion. “The feeling’s mutual.” Another loud thunder shook the five of us.

“What was that?” Frank asked looking up. “A storm?”

“No, it’s just ice cracking and shifting.” explained Hazel. “Millions of tons of ice.”

“That thing is breaking up?!” Frank asked.

            As soon as he asked a huge chunk of ice fell from the glacier and crashed into the icy waters. The collision sprayed water and frozen shrapnel into the air. And a few moments after seeing the crash the sound hit us—a _BOOM_ that sounded like when Arion went supersonic.

Frank gulped. “We can’t get close to that thing!”

“We gave to,” I said, “The giant is at the top.”

“And Thanatos too.” Tsuna said. He flexed his left hand. “The sooner he’s free the easier killing the giants will be. Do you think you can still carry all of us Arion?”

“ _Are you doubting me you little bitch_?” nickered Arion. “ _I can get the four of you to the top of that fuc—!”_

“Watch your mouth!” I said. “Jeez Hazel, tell your horse to watch his language or I’ll wash it out with soap.”

“What did he say?” asked Hazel.

“With the cussing removed?” I crossed my arms. “He said he can get us to the top.”

“I thought he couldn’t fly?” asked Frank.

“Obviously he can’t fly, do you see any wings on him?” Tsuna said.

“ _Bring it on little girl_.” Arion whinnied angrily. I don’t think I should tell you guys what he said after, but with the way Hazel gasped even she could tell that her horse was a potty mouth.

“Dude, I got suspended for saying less than that.” I said. “But he also said that he can take us up there when you give the word.”

“Oh, um, then let’s go then.” I climbed up on Arion and reached to Tsuna to help him up.

“Eh.” he groaned.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just prepping myself.” said Tsuna. “Not looking forward to another ride.”

“ _Ah, does the big baby need me to make the ride a bit smoother_?” whinnied Arion.

“Be nice Arion.” I said. “Come on man, it’s not that bad.”

Tsuna let out a breath. “Yeah, whatever.” He grabbed my hand and I pulled him up onto Arion.

“Alright guys, hold on.” Hazel said. “Giddy up Arion!”

            Tsuna squeezed me tight again as Arion shot off like a rocket. I could tell that he was making the run rough just for Tsuna. Arion ran straight for the glacier, melting the icy slush into pure water beneath his hooves. The glacier was getting bigger and bigger by the second before it was like a literal giant wall of ice. If it wasn’t for the heat rolling off of Arion it would have been a lot colder.

            The closer we got to the glacier the louder the cracking of the ice got. The side of the glacier looked like Swiss cheese with all the caves and crevices lining it. Now that we were so close I could see that the glacier was falling apart. Some pieces were the size of snowballs and others the size of houses. I really hope that we don’t get hit by one of those. That’s global warming for you. Now that I think about it, what’s the godly excuse for global warming? Is Apollo to blame for it since he’s the sun god? Or is it because Pan’s no longer with us?

When we were about fifty or so yards from the base of Hubbard Glacier a huge sheet of solid ice, big enough to probably squish Camp Jupiter flat, fell almost on top of us. “Look out!” shouted Frank.

            Arion didn’t need Frank’s warning. In a burst of speed Arion dipped and weaved and zigzagged through falling debris of ice. A huge piece of ice fell right in front of us. The four of us were screaming our heads off when it hit the water. I could feel Arion’s muscles move and strain as he pushed himself even harder to jump over the ice before running up the side of the glacier.

            I’m so glad mom wasn’t around right now. I’d be grounded for a month and taste nothing but soap for two if she heard me scream what I screamed. Mom doesn’t like it when I cuss. And because we were running up the glacier like the Flash I squeezed Frank and Arion as hard as I could to stop myself from falling off. Tsuna was squeezing me so tight that I couldn’t breathe.

            Arion didn’t make the climb any easier. He jumped from foothold to foothold like a mountain goat on steroids doing parkour with unbelievable speed. After a few minutes that seemed to take a lot longer than it really was it was all over. Once everything stopped spinning in my eyes I saw the sea hundreds of feet below us. Arion reared up and whinnied proudly, announcing to the other horses in the world “ _Beat that ya punks!_ ”

“Urgh…” Tsuna groaned.

“You okay Tsuna?” I asked.

“Not…feeling to well.” he said.

“Don’t throw up on me dude.” I said.

“ _If he gets sick on me I’ll kick him off this damn glacier_.” Arion said.

“Keep it in Tsuna.” I warned.

“No promises.” he said. Arion then turned, running inland of the glacier and jumping over a fifty foot chasm, where I saw it.

“There!” I pointed and Arion came to a complete stop, almost sending the four of us flying off of him.

            Ahead of us was the remains of a frozen Roman camp. It looked like a decrepit replica of Camp Jupiter. It felt old and was like a ghost town. It was terrifying. Is this what could happen to the actual Camp Jupiter if we can’t beat the giants, if we can’t stop the war? The ramparts glared in blinding white. The trenches were lined with huge spikes of ice. The guard towers were almost to the point of falling apart, if it wasn’t for the icicles so huge that they acted like support beams. And hanging from the guard towers were ripped purple Camp Jupiter flags glimmered with the artic sun.

            There was no sign of life. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone here, but actually looking at this deserted camp just sent shivers up my spine. The iron gates of the camp were opening and shutting themselves in the cold wind, creaking with rust. Even Arion seemed nervous.

“Frank,” I said, “How about we go on foot from here?”

“Please, for the love of the gods.” Tsuna said.

“Thought you’d never ask.” Frank sighed in relief.

            Tsuna slid off Arion and walked a few feet away before leaning on his knees. He took a few deep breaths while he calmed himself. He really doesn’t like Arion. When I got off the horse I tested the ground beneath my feet. It felt stable, and not too slippery. There was a nice crunch of the snow with each step I took to check on Tsuna.

“Are you sure you’re alright Tsuna?” I asked, rubbing his back.

“Yeah, just a sec.” he said. He took another deep breath before standing up straight. “So this is a Roman Camp.”

“The one in California is a lot better.” I said. “It’s different from Camp Half Blood, but there’s an area there that’s so completely safe for demigods that people can go to college, start families.”

“Start families?” he said. “Is that really possible for us?”

“I hope so.” I said. “Four years of this, fighting in a war, two at this point, I just want to be a normal sixteen year old.”

“A monster free life.” said Tsuna. “I can only imagine how much that appeals to you. I’ve been, well, free of _this_ for most of my life, but I can imagine what you’re feeling.”

“I remember you giving up immortality just so you can live your life to the fullest.” I said. “Just imagine just being a normal teenager for a few years.”

“Can’t wait.” Tsuna said. “The sooner we defeat these giants, the sooner you can have you’re happily ever after with Annabeth.” He wriggled his eyebrows at me and I face felt hot.

            Hazel rode Arion into the camp, the clanking of his hooves echoed in the cold, empty air. Frank stood to her left with his bow loaded and ready. I walked along her right, gripping Riptide tight. Tsuna brought up the rear, his left hand in his pocket and the Kusanagi held lazily in his right.

            As we walked through the rusty gates Hazel looked around. I think she was looking for traps. The Romans are very…defensive. Maybe that’s why they lasted for so long. But none of us set off any traps, so maybe there wasn’t any in the first place or their so old and frozen over that they wouldn’t go off even if we messed with them.

“Guys wait up a sec.” Tsuna called out.

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“Can’t you feel that?” Tsuna had this cautious look on his face.

“Feel what?” I asked.

Tsuna looked around and raised his sword. “We’re being watched.”

I quickly whipped my head around trying to see anyone hiding in the snow. “Tsuna are you sure?”

“Yeah, I can feel it in my stomach.” said Tsuna.

“I don’t see anyone.” Frank said.

“Trust me, there’s someone out there.” said Tsuna. “Just be careful.”

“You got it.” I said, readjusting my grip on Riptide.

            Hazel took the lead. She led us straight down a road that looked like the Via Praetoria in New Rome. The further we went into the abandoned city the more I could start feeling being watched. But no matter where I looked there wasn’t anyone to be seen. But I trust Tsuna’s intuition, he’s usually right anyways.

Arion came to a complete stop, Hazel’s eyes wide as she stared ahead of us at a cross roads. “Thanatos.”

Hazel almost fell off of Arion if it wasn’t for Frank propping her back up. “We’ve got you.” he promised her. “Nobody’s taking you away.”

“I’m alright Frank.” she said. “Let’s just get this over with.”

I looked around as we walked closer to Thanatos, trying to see the hint of whatever Tsuna said was watching us. “Still no defenders? Or guards? And where’s the giant? This has to be a trap.”

“No shit Sherlock.” Tsuna said.

“Ass.” I said, before I noticed Hazel looking…uh, I think appalled would be the word she would use. “Sorry Hazel.”

“Even though it is a trap, it’s not like we have a choice.” Frank said.

“He’s right.” Hazel said, urging Arion forward. “If we want to save Camp Jupiter we need to free Thanatos, even if it…you know...”

            We stopped ten feet away from the black robed Thanatos. For years I’ve nearly died, from monster attacks, battles with Titans, even dueling against fellow demigods. But I never actually _faced_ death himself. I couldn’t see his face under his hood, but I could feel his stare as his eyes roamed over all of us. For some reason, Tsuna decided to keep out of his sight by keeping most of himself hidden behind me. Even Arion look scared with the way he cantered back and forth.

“Hello?” Hazel asked with her voice shaking. “Mr…Death?”

            At that moment the dead Roman camp jumped back to life, sort of. People in Roman armor stormed out of the barracks, the armory, the canteen, even the Roman baths. I had no idea what they were, but they’re not human, at least not anymore. Their bodies were nothing more than black wisps, but they were substantial enough to hold onto weapons and shields. Two of them were even riding in a gold chariot pulled by two black ghost horses. They surrounded us, but kept their distance for now. I wish Annabeth was here right now, she’d know what they were and how to get rid of them. Tsuna seemed tense behind me.

“They shouldn’t be here.” he said.

“Tsuna what are they?” I asked.

“Not entirely sure.” he said. “But they should be in the Underworld. I wonder what _he_ feels about these things.”

“Hazel, look at what they’re holding.” Frank said.

“I know Frank, I can feel it.” said Hazel. “Imperial Gold.”

“Can you do anything with it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’m afraid to try. Imperial Gold is too dangerous, like handling an atomic bomb. I could set them off and wipe the glacier, and us, off the map.”

“But what about controlling these ghosts instead?” I wondered. “Like Nico could.”

“That’s just his specialty.”  Hazel said. “I’m only good with the earth and its riches.”

“Well somebody think of something.” Tsuna said. “We’re just a bit outnumbered.” He wasn’t wrong, there’s about a hundred of these guys.

“Thanatos!” Hazel turned to the robed god. “We’re here to rescue you. If you control these...these Shades, tell them—”

            Hazel’s words seemed to get stuck in her throat as Thanatos let his robe fall from his body. His skin was like dark and glistening wood and his eyes looked a bit like Hazel’s, honey gold. He was wearing a sleeveless black tunic, like the ones you’d see in shows like Xena. And he wasn’t all that buff Ares or Hephaestus or even Beckendorf, just lean and muscular like a lot of the gods I’ve seen on Olympus, but still buffer than me. And then he opened up his wings, stretching them wide and letting them glimmer in the light.

“So that’s where people get the idea of the Angel of Death.” Tsuna said. “That makes sense.”

            Thanatos moved his neck around to make it pop. When he rolled his shoulders I heard the clinking of chains. Around his wrist were icy manacles that chained him to the glacier itself. Even his feet were chained up.

“Wow, it’s Cupid.” Frank said.

“A buff Cupid.” I said.

Thanatos chuckled. “You compliment me.” His voice was deep. “I am frequently mistaken for the god of love. Death actually has a lot more in common with Love than you might imagine. But I am Death, I assure you.”

            There’s no doubt about that. Even when I was at my lowest point, when I was literally facing death against Kronos, I never felt so weak. I think that I would just curl up and die if he just said it.

“We’re-we’re here to save you.” Hazel struggled to get out. “Where’s Alcyoneus?”

“Save me…?” Thanatos smiled as if Hazel just told him a joke. “Do you know what you are saying, Hazel Levesque? Do you understand what that will mean?”

“You’ll try to Reap her, but I won’t let that happen.” Tsuna said as he walked past me.

            I tried to stop him, because technically Tsuna’s in the same place as Hazel. He was brought back to life, so Thanatos could take him too. But Tsuna shrugged me off and stood in front of the god of death.

“Y’know, you should be more careful.” Tsuna said, hands casually in his pockets. “This is what? The second time you’ve been captured?”

Thanatos lazily looked Tsuna over, his eyes going up and down Tsuna’s frame. “What are you doing here? You’re a bit far from Japan, boy.”

“I have a message for you.” Tsuna said. “From your boss.” Thanatos shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands up a bit to emphasize the frozen chains.

“I’m sure Lord Pluto knows of my…predicament…by now.” Thanatos said. “I bet he’s dead tired from doing everything in his power to slow the resurrection of the dead.” Did he even hear what he said, or did he say it on purpose?

“Interesting to know, but I’m not talking about that boss.” Tsuna said.

“What are you talking about?” asked Thanatos. “I only serve Lord Pluto.”

“Don’t toy with me Reaper.” said Tsuna smugly. “I’m talking about the big boss, the CEO.” Tsuna took his left hand out of his pocket. “I’m talking about the owner of this.” He raised his left hand and showed off the silver ring he had on his middle finger. Where did he get that anyways?

But the most surprising thing was the way the color drained from Thanatos’s face, as if he was scared to…well…death… “ _What does Death have to be afraid of_?” I thought. “ _And who could be higher up in the chain than Hades?_ ”

“Wh…what is the message?” Thanatos said shaking.

“He wants a word with you.” Tsuna said. “Immediately. He’s hard to read, but I don’t think he’s happy with you.”

Thanatos gulped and nodded. “Hurry up.”

“Okay…so how should we take those things off of you?” Frank asked, pointing to the chains.

“Like this.” I said.

            I swung Riptide at the god’s chains. There was a satisfying clang as my Celestial Bronze sword rang against the ice, but as I tried to pull Riptide back it stuck to the frozen chains. Frost started to creep up the blade so I started pulling it harder. Tsuna and Frank ran over and helped me pull my sword out of the ice before the frost reached out hands.

“That is not going to work.” Thanatos said. “Oh, and as for the giant, he’s close. And those shades are not mine. They are his.” He looked over at a group of the ghosts and they shivered like they could feel the Arctic wind.

“If that’s not going to work, then what will?” Hazel asked.

“Oh dear daughter of Pluto, child of… _one_ …of my masters,” he glanced over at Tsuna for a second, “You of all people should not wish me released.”

“Don’t you think I _know_ that?!” Hazel shrieked. Hazel, she knew what would happen. Thanatos would take her back to the Underworld. She drew her sword and Arion reared in defiance. “Listen, Death—”

“Thanatos.” Tsuna said.

“—I didn’t come back from the Underworld and travel thousands of miles to be told that I’m stupid for setting you free. If I die, I die. I’ll fight this whole army if I have to. Just tell us how to set you free.”

“Interesting.” said Thanatos after a moment of silence. “You do understand that these shades that you’re so willing to fight used to be demigods like you. _They_ fought for Rome. _They_ died without completely their heroic quest. Like you, _they_ were sent to Asphodel. Do you know why they are here? It is because Gaea has promised them a second chance at life if they fight for her today. Of course, if you release me and defeat them, they will have to return to the Underworld where they rightfully belong. For treason against the gods, they will face _eternal_ punishment. But, they are not so different from you, Hazel Levesque. Are you sure you want to release me, and damn these souls forever?”

“That’s not fair!” Frank yelled. He looked like he wanted to punch Thanatos in his perfect jaw. “Do you want to be freed or not?”

“Fair…” the god hummed, finding the word funny. “You’d be amazed how often I hear that word. Believe me when I say that Death is never fair.”

“He may not be fair, but he does make exceptions.” Tsuna said. “Maybe you should take a page from your boss’s book.”

Thanatos glared at Tsuna and looked him over again. “Oh, that makes sense.” he said. “You were dead not too long ago. I’d say…a little less than a year ago?” He…he could tell that Tsuna was dead. Does that mean he’ll try to take my brother with Hazel after we free him? Not if I have anything to say about it.

Tsuna nodded. “But I was revived. A soul exchange and a phoenix feather from Suzaku of the South. And you know what? Death himself allowed it.” Okay, why is Tsuna referring to Thanatos as two different people?

The god ‘tsked’. “Still, I wouldn’t be doing my job once I’m free if I just let you run about. You must know how much _he_ likes the Natural Oder.” Tsuna was fazed by that. He just raised his left hand again and pointed to the silver ring.

“I think I have a ‘Get Out of Reaping’ pass right here.” Tsuna said. “And then you’d be going against _his_ orders. He wants to Reap my soul himself when it is my time. Besides, I doubt you want to go against my Bāchan Izanagi. Pretty sure she outranks you.”

“Even _if_ I took you seriously, do you really want to test me?” asked Thanatos.

“Only if you want to test me.” Tsuna said. Okay, I have the coolest brother ever. He’s not taking anything from Death.

“Fine.” said the chained god. “But know this. Even if you free me, I will do my duty. But of course, the shades will try to stop you.”

“So what you’re saying is that if we let you go,” I said, “We get mobbed by a bunch of black vapor dudes with gold swords.” Thanatos nodded. “Fine. We can handle them. How do we break the chains?”

Thanatos smiled. “What do you think Son of Poseidon? What can destroy the chains that can bind Death himself?”

“I doubt it would work on your boss.” Tsuna sung, earning him another glare from the god of death.

“I don’t know, can you try again without the riddles?” I asked.

He ‘tsked’ again. “Only the fire of life can melt the chains of death.”

“I just asked without the riddles.” I said annoyed.

“It’s…it’s not a riddle Percy.” Frank said with a shaky breath.

“Frank, no,” Hazel said weakly. “There’s got to be another way.”

            As soon as she said that there was a booming across the glacier. At first I thought it was breaking up again, but then I noticed that it didn’t sound the same as last time. The sound lasted longer than the thunder of the glacier breaking apart before I recognized it. It was laughter.

“My friends!” boomed a rumbling voice. I’ve waited for so very long!”

            We all turned back to the source of the voice. Standing at the gates of the camp was Alcyoneus the giant. He was so huge, bigger than my dad’s opposite Polybotes in California. His skin made him look like a golden Colossus from X-Men. He was wearing armor made of shining platinum. In his hand was a totem pole sized staff that looked like it was made out of Stygian Iron like Nico’s sword. Like Polybotes, he had dragon legs but his are rust-red that pounded the ice as he entered the camp. I even saw some gems sparking in his hair.

“So that’s a giant.” Tsuna whispered in my ear. Oh right, he’s never seen one before. “Ugly thing, isn’t he?”

Alcyoneus grinned at us with teeth made of solid silver. “Ah, Hazel Levesque, how I’ve missed you! You cost me dearly all those years ago. If it wasn’t for your little sacrifice I would have risen decades ago and this world would already be Gaea’s. But no matter!” He spread his arms wide and rallied the ghost army. “Welcome, Percy Jackson! Welcome Frank Zhang!” He looked at Tsuna. “And welcome…um, ah…?”

“My name’s Tsuna Noble.” he said.

            That’s weird. How come he doesn’t know who Tsuna is? You’d think that someone would have told him. Stheno mentioned Tsuna to Polybotes in California, so I expected Alcyoneus to know my brother. You’d think he would at least be able to tell Tsuna’s a Shinto demigod. But either way this will give us an edge.

“…Cool, anyhoo.” the giant crossed his arms. “I am Alcyoneus, the bane of Pluto, the _new_ master of Death. And this,” He gestured to the ghost army. “Is your new Legion.”

            Tsuna brought out his sword and got into a battle stance. Arion whinnied so many cuss words that I know for a fact that I didn’t need to translate for the others to understand. Frank looked between Hazel and Thanatos, back to Alcyoneus, and back again to Hazel.

“Hazel, that _package_ I gave to hold onto, I need it back.” said Frank.

“Frank, no.” Hazel said. “There has to be another way.”

“What are they planning?” Tsuna asked me.

“I’m not sure.”

“Hazel please, I-I know what I’m doing.” Frank struggled to say.

“You’re right Frank Zhang.” smiled Thanatos. He lifted his cuffed wrists. “Sacrifices must be made.”

“What package do you speak of Frank Zhang?” asked Alcyoneus as he stepped closer. “Have you brought me a present?”

“Nothing for you Golden Boy.” said Frank. “Nothing except a whole lot of pain.”

Alcyoneus roared with laughter, sounding like metal rubbing against each other. “Spoken like a true child of Mars! Too bad I have to kill you. And then there’s _this_ one…” He pointed right at me. “My, my, I’ve been waiting to meet the famous Percy Jackson.” He smiled at me, looking like a polished car grille. “I’ve been following your progress for quite a while, son of Neptune. Your fight with that arrogant half-brother of mine Kronos? Well done, well done indeed. Gaea hates you the most above all others, except for that upstart brat Jason Grace. I truly wish I can kill you now, but Polybotes has laid claim to you, as a pet.”

“That sounds disgusting.” Tsuna said.

“Please don’t put images in my head man.” I begged and shuddered at some of the thoughts that went through my mind.

“He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys your father to have his favorite son on a leash.” He continued. I almost got sick when I had an image of a leash around my neck being held by Polybotes popped in my head. “After that, of course, Gaea has plans for you.”

“Yeah, that’s very flattering.” I said with sarcasm as I raised Riptide. “But I’m actually the son of Poseidon. I’m from Camp Half-Blood.”

“And if you plan on capturing him, you’ll have to get through me.” Tsuna said as he stood in front of me. His three Treasures were glowing faintly, but it was eyes that I noticed. They were flashing sea green.

“Tsuna—”

“Not now Percy.” he said.

“Get through you? Ha!” Alcyoneus roared with laughter again. “I can just step over you or on you if I’m in the mood. And Greek or Roman, it doesn’t matter. We will crush both camps underfoot. You see, the Titans didn’t think _big_ enough. They attempted to destroy the gods by attacking their thrones in America, but we Giants know better! We’ll kill them like weeds, at the roots! While Polybotes destroys your precious little Roman Camp, my youngest brother Porphyrion is preparing for battle for the real battle in the Ancient Lands! We will destroy the gods at their source!”

            Alcyoneus slammed the bass of his totem pole into the ice. The ghosts banged their weapons against their shields, whooping and hollering as they cheered for Alcyoneus. Their cheers echoed off the mountains. With the way the glacier has been breaking apart I’m surprised all this noise wasn’t causing it to fall apart.

“The source?” Frank asked. “You mean Greece?!”

“You have no need to worry son of Mars.” chuckled Alcyoneus. “You won’t be alive long enough to witness our ultimate victory. I will replace Pluto as the lord of the Underworld. I already have Death in my custody. And with Hazel Levesque in my servitude, I shall have all the riches of the earth as well!”

“I don’t do _service_.” Hazel said through grit teeth.

“Oh don’t be like that my dear.” said the giant. “You gave me life! True, we wanted to raise Gaea back during World War II. Now that would’ve been glorious! But it doesn’t matter. Your civilization will end, wiped out like the gods and humanity. The Doors of Death will stand open. Those who serve us will never perish. Alive or dead, you three shall join my army. And you, Hazel Levesque, will be my personal slave.”

            Wow, that sounded so very, very wrong. I mean, come on. Hazel bristled up as soon as the word was said. I don’t care if they can’t be killed without a gods help. I want to cut his head off myself for calling Hazel that.

“Yeah, none of that is going to happen.” Tsuna said, pointing the Kusanagi at Alcyoneus. “You will die this day, and Gaea’s plans will fall apart at the seams.”

“What he said.” I agreed. “You’re going down Golden Boy.”

Tsuna and I were about to run and kill the giant, if it wasn’t for Hazel leading Arion in front of us. “Wait.” she said. “ _I_ raised this monster from the earth. _I’m_ the daughter of Pluto. It’s _my_ place to kill him.” Alcyoneus bit his hand to keep himself from laughing.

“My dear sweet little Hazel,” Alcyoneus said after letting the muffled laugh die out, “Are you sure you won’t join us of you own free will? You could be quite… _precious_ to us. Why die again, when you can live forever under my service?”

Hazel glared at the giant before pulling a small package from her jacket pocket. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Frank said as he took the package. He unwrapped it, revealing a small piece of burnt firewood. Wait, was that—oh my gods. That’s Franks’ lifeline!

“You’re my best friend Frank.” said Hazel. “I should have told you that earlier. Do what you have to. But…but please, stay alive.”

“I’ll try Hazel.” said Frank.

“And Percy, Tsuna…can you protect him?” asked Hazel.

“Against a small army?” I said. “Sure, no problem.”

“A small army of ghost who won’t re-die.” added Tsuna. He smiled. “It’s a good thing I like a challenge.”

“Then I’ve got the walking Buddha statue.” Hazel said. With that, Arion reared back before running straight for Alcyoneus, Hazel pointing her _spatha_ right at the giant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	11. Percy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy!

            As soon as Hazel went charging at Alcyoneus the ghost army came for the three of us at once. They roared and screamed with each step, eager to prove themselves to the giant, and by extension, Gaea. Tsuna readied himself and tightened his grip on his sword.

I turned back to my friend. “Frank, do what you have to. Tsuna and I’ve got your back.”

“Right.” nodded Frank. He unwrapped the package Hazel gave him and took out a piece of burned wood, his life line that he told us about earlier.

            Frank knelt at the feet of Thanatos, and I can bet you that he enjoyed it. All the gods seem to like it when we do that. A ghost came straight at me so I couldn’t focus completely on Frank. I sliced its side just under the armor and it disappeared in black smoke, only to come back a few seconds later.

            The ghosts kept coming. Every time I killed, uh, re-killed one it would reform and two more would pop up to attack. It was getting annoying to fight them since they won’t stay dead. The sooner Frank frees Death the better.

            Tsuna took off on his own to spread the ghost army out a bit. One time I spared him a glance just to see if he was okay. He was actually doing pretty good, all things considered. His strikes were fast and precise, but he can’t last forever with them reforming constantly. One time when I looked over at him he used his magic to push a whole group of Roman ghosts away. The Sacred Regalia were glowing when around his neck when he used his magic. A large ghost with a huge sword ran up and slammed the sword down at me. I jumped back right at the last second and ran Riptide through the ghosts’ stomach.

“Back off!” I yelled as the ghost faded away.

            I ended up getting really pissed off. The ghosts kept coming and coming. I don’t know, maybe the lack of sleep was getting to me. But with the way the ghosts were swarming me and Tsuna couldn’t keep them away from Frank. And it’s not like he could defend himself right now anyways while he was focusing on freeing Death.

            The ghosts ended up pushing me and Tsuna back towards Frank. They were closing in on us. I looked back over at Tsuna when I thought of a plan. We shared a look and I’m pretty sure he knew what I wanted to do. We’ve been in sync with each other on such a level since we met; I guess you could say we have something like that twin telepathy I heard about.

            We created a huge windstorm around the two of us. Since we were working together, it was a lot stronger, just like in Japan. The wind picked up ice and water spun around us. Sending a smile at each other we both yelled and ran at the ghosts. Together we cut through the ghosts. Arrows and thrown spears were deflected as we waded through the enemy. The wind was so strong that the ghosts’ smoky bodies were having a hard time reforming. But they still came back in the end.

            Luckily for us they seemed more concerned about the two of us than Frank. I mean, we were the major threat at the second. I guess they were thinking that if they took us down then they could easily kill Frank before he frees Thanatos. They were still annoying though.

“I really wish you had a bigger connection to the Yomi dude.” I said over the wind. “Maybe you could have banished these guys and we wouldn’t have to deal with them.”

“Even if I did have stronger powers from the Yomi, I doubt it would have helped any with the giant controlling them.” he said, sweat forming on his forehead. His cocky smile faded into a sad look. “Maybe…Maybe if Nico was here…”

            Nico, Nico, Nico. I am so fucking mad at him right now. I can’t believe he saw me at Camp Jupiter and said he didn’t know me. I thought we were friends? After fighting Kronos and what happened in Japan, I thought we’d become closer, but I guess not. For Hazel and what friendship I thought we shared, I’ll help save him. But when I do, I’m going to wring his skinny pale neck. If it wasn’t for him lying I could have been back at Camp Half-Blood right now with Annabeth. But, maybe I’ll go easy on him in the end. He is Tsuna’s best friend after all, and Tsuna does care about Nico a lot. His capture must be making Tsuna as worried as Hazel.

“Hey Percy, what’s that thing?” asked Tsuna. He pointed over at a ghost that looked like a commander of the army. It was wearing a…a…is that a lion skin cape? I wonder if it was the pelt of a Nemean Lion. The ghostly captain was protectively holding a staff that had a golden eagle on the top, icicles hanging from its spread wings.

“I think that’s something important that the Legion lost years ago.” I explained. “I think Frank or Reyna said it was blessed by Zeus, I mean, Jupiter. It’s supposed to be really powerful.”

“You should go get it.” said Tsuna. “You’re the Roman between the two of us. Besides, it might be useful.”

“You’re right.” I said. “Think you can keep them at bay?”

He smiled. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

            Tsuna gripped the Kusanagi with both hands and screamed. The windstorm grew stronger. The Kusanagi was glowing, strengthening Tsuna’s storm powers. Tsuna took off to the side taking down the ghosts and giving me an opening to attack the pole standard bearer. I raced towards the eagle standard, plowing my way through the undead legionnaires with my own personal hurricane, scattering weapons and shields. When I was close enough to the standard bearer I jump kicked him in the chest and grabbed the eagle off the ground.

“You want it back?!” I shouted at the ghosts, waving the eagle around. “Then come and get it!”

            I led the ghosts away from Frank and Thanatos. Not that I needed to goad them much or anything. They _really_ wanted this eagle thing back. It must be as important and as powerful as I was told if they were now completely ignoring Frank freeing Thanatos.

            I took them down the Via Principalis. I slashed at any ghost that came close. My whirlwind wasn’t keeping the ghosts away from me as good as when I first formed it. At least it kept them from coming at me all at once. A group of legionnaires came at me in formation, shields up and spears pointed at me. Kinda like a spiky tank, without the cannon.

            They pushed their way through the hurricane. But before they got too close I strengthened the wind of the hurricane to blow them back to the ground. It didn’t take long for them to get back up and try again. I guess since I have the eagle they were more determined to kill me. A horse whinnied behind me. I turned around and saw the ghostly horse-drawn chariot. I actually forgot about that.

“Hey there guys.” I said. “Uh, want to help me out?”

            The horses snorted at me. I don’t think there’s any chance of them listening to me. Maybe if me and Nico did the Fusion Dance from Dragon Ball Z. Or maybe if I was a legacy of both Poseidon and Hades, like if Nico and I had a kid, the horses would listen to me. Okay, I’m going to pretend I didn’t just say ‘Nico and I had a kid.’ As mad as I am at him right now, I could never imagine the two of us having a kid, he’s like the little brother I always wanted. And I’m not saying that because I failed him and let him down since I met him.

            The ghost in the chariot cracked a whip and made the horses charge at me. Even though they’re ghosts, I didn’t like the idea of hurting the horses. But in the end in knew I had to do it. I waved my sword arm and caused the wind to knock the chariot into a several buildings that fell apart like Jenga Towers.

            I really wish Frank would hurry up. I’m getting exhausted. No matter how much I push these ghosts down, no matter how often I cut one down, they would get back up and come at me. My control of the hurricane I created was weakening, the wind dying. Even my moves were getting sloppier. I was feeling exhausted. Maybe if I still had the Curse of Achilles I’d have more energy to fight…or maybe I’d tire myself out more…either way, I don’t think I can last much longer.

            They managed to push me back until I was at one of the side gates of the frozen roman village. I looked behind me and saw that about twenty feet away was the edge of the glacier and the ICEE waters below. I swallowed a lump in my throat at the sight of the water. I know I used my powers just as easy in Japan as I did in America, but that prophecy that Ella spoke…it still scares me.

            In the corner of my eye I saw Hazel battling the Giant. Thanks to Arion Hazel was able to stay out of Alcyoneus’s reach. The giant destroyed most of the barracks of the camp, smacking buildings with his clearly compensating totem pole staff. Arion ran between the Giant’s legs where Alcyoneus missed and carve a scar into the ice.

            A large ghost soldier ran through the wind and raised his _spartha_ over his head. When he slammed it down I raised Riptide to shield myself. I could feel the vibrations of the metals hitting down to my toes. But the force of the strike was enough to throw me to the ground on my back, making me lose my concentration and the hurricane disappearing. I slid a few feet closer to the edge of the glacier.

            The huge ghost leaned over me. I couldn’t see his face through his helmet, but I bet he was sneering with joy that he was about to kill a _graceus_. I really can’t believe this is how I’m going to die. I expected something more heroic, like defending Camp or something. But before the ghost could stab me a thin blade ran through it right under the armor.

The ghost fell apart where I saw Tsuna standing behind where the ghost was standing. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes.” He held it his hand which I took so he could pull me up.

“Excuse me?” I said. “Do you know how hard it is to keep up a hurricane and distract an army of undying ghosts?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” asked Tsuna. “Having a tea party?”

The ghosts stepped closer to us. “Look, can we just not right now?” I asked. “We are in danger here.”

“Yeah, I see your point.” Tsuna said.

“Too bad we can’t kill them.” I said.

“It would make things easier on us.” said Tsuna.

“Maybe if I use this thing it’ll do some lasting damage.” I said, shaking the eagle standard.

“I wouldn’t.” Tsuna said. “We don’t know what that thing does. What if it’s a one off? We should save it until we really need it.”

“Well what do you think we should do then?” I asked. “Until Frank frees Death, we can’t—”

“Percy!” yelled Frank. “They can die now!”

Tsuna smiled and stuck his tongue out at me. “Shut up.” I said. Let’s get this over with.”

            Now that they could die, it was so much easier on us. And it didn’t take much to take them down, since they were basically smoke people. Just one good jab with a sword was all it took.  Tsuna and I were working really great together, like always. He had my back and I had his. But even together, fighting side by side, we were getting over whelmed. There were just too many ghosts. They kept pushing us closer and closer to the edge.

            All of a sudden a screamed rang through the cold Arctic air. I looked over and saw that Hazel was on the ground in pain. She must have been hit into the ramparts by the giant. Even Arion looked unconscious. Alcyoneus roared with laughter, probably enjoying beating a girl to the ground.

“Hazel!” yelled Frank.

            He looked like wanted to go help her, not that I can blame him. She’s my friend and I wanted to go take on the giant myself. But I think that Frank should go and help. As much as I like Hazel Frank’s feeling for her are deeper. Frank looked so torn between helping Hazel and helping me and Tsuna.

“Go help her!” I yelled. I waved the golden eagle over my head to show him I got it from the ghost Legion. “We’ve got these guys!”

“You sure we can handle this?” asked Tsuna.

“We’ve dealt with worse.” I said.

            Together we charged at the ghosts. I cut the head off of one, Tsuna slashed through the chest of another. Hacking and slashing, stabbing and slicing, we took down ghost after ghost. And this time they stayed dead. Thank gods. A few of them offered a challenge, but they seemed kind of mindless to begin with. But even with them able to die…again…their sheer numbers ended up pushing us back closer to the edge of the glacier.

“Tsuna, could do something please?!” I yelled when I almost slipped and fell.

“Uh, right.” he said.

            He took a deep breath and held out his left hand. His hand and Treasures glowed before a sea green pulse erupted from his hand, just like what happened back at Amazon HQ. It sent several ghosts flying into each other, even causing a few to be impaled by the weapons of their fellow ghosts. Some of the ghosts tried to get closer to us, but Tsuna, from the looks of it, seemed to keep them at bay with his magic. But it looks like it was taking way too much out of him.

“Tsuna!” I cried when he fell to his knee, his sword stabbed into the ice for support.

“I’m fine!” he yelled when I went to help him. “There’s nothing you can do. I can only keep this up for so long Percy, so think of something.”

            How can I think of anything like this? An army of ghosts in front of me, the ocean of slushies behind me (after a several hundred foot drop), and a giant somewhere over there. I had no idea where Hazel was, but with the way the giant was looming over the broken down ramparts I’m guessing she’s still buried. Arion was at least up and trying to protect her.

“Hello, little pony.” the giant laughed. “You want to play?

            Alcyoneus raised his icy staff, ready to smash Hazel and my half-brother of a horse. Before the giant could swing his staff this huge, and I mean _huge_ , eagle flew into the giants face and slashed it with its talons. Even for an immortal being that had to hurt. The giant bellowed in pain and clutched his face when the eagle backed off a bit and landed in front of Hazel, only to turn into Frank.

“What—how?” I stuttered out.

            Since when can Frank turn into an eagle? When can he turn into anything?! Is that the power he said he had? Turning into animals? How come I can’t turn into animals? This power is supposed to come from Poseidon right? So then I should be able to turn into animals. It’s only fair.

            As I watched the giant’s wounds close up from here Tsuna let out a gasp. He fell to the ground, catching himself before he hit his head. His magic barrier, or whatever he was doing, dropped and the ghosts came rushing at us. I cut up a few while Tsuna recovered.

“Tsuna!” I yelled. “Come on man; please tell me you’re alright.”

He picked himself up and magically pushed the ghosts back again when a group of them jumped at us. “I-I’ll be fine. But I can’t keep this up.” To prove a point his nose started to bleed a little.

“Tsuna-!” I started.

“I said I’m fine!” he yelled.

            But whatever magic he was using, even strengthened by the Three Regalia, wasn’t going to stop him from burning up. And his magic was weakening so the ghosts were starting to walk towards us, pushing me and Tsuna closer and closer to the edge, but it was like they were walking through mud. Tsuna was really pushing himself to buy me some time to think.

“We need an advantage.” I said. What we needed was a recharge. And there’s only one way to get it.

“I’m all ears Percy.” said Tsuna.

            I looked at the ghosts. There were too many to fight between me and Tsuna. Frank and Hazel were too busy fighting Alcyoneus to help us. Right now a grizzly bear (who I guess was actually Frank) was punching the giant in the face repeatedly. Tsuna said that he couldn’t hold the ghosts back anymore so the moment he dropped his magic I whipped up another small hurricane around the two of us. It was enough to keep the ghosts from coming any closer.

            Despite our best efforts though we were basically on the cliff edge. One more step and we’d fall. I looked behind me and saw the water. Honestly, I’m scared right now. But the water’s the only chance to keep me and Tsuna safe. The ghosts started to push against each other to edge closer and closer to us.

“Percy!!” I heard Frank yell over the wind.

            I glanced over at them. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw the giant lying on the frozen ground. Alcyoneus started moving again so Frank ran around and smashed the giant’s nose with a huge shield. Hazel was tying a rope around Arion’s waist, and following the rope I saw it was tied around the giant’s ankle.

            That’s when I remembered that Alcyoneus isn’t like the other giants. I remember that the way he can be defeated wasn’t through the combined powers of a god and a demigod, but to take him out of his home territory. That’s what they were doing.

I nodded towards Frank. “Go!” I yelled, though I don’t think he could have heard me over the wind.

Tsuna grabbed the eagle standard and hauled himself back onto his feet, although he seemed a bit dizzy from exhaustion. “Are they going to be alright?”

“Yeah, they’re just going to kill the giant.” I said. “Tsuna, do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that?” he asked smiling. “I might be called stupid, but I trust you with my life.”

“Then hold on.” I said.

            With a scream I stabbed Riptide into the glacier’s ice at my feet. The next second the entire glacier shuddered, shaking so hard that even the ghosts lost their footing and fell to their knees. I could feel the ocean churning beneath me. I felt the cold sea spray of a wave surging up from behind me. Cracks and crevices snaked along the glacier from where I stabbed Riptide, shooting out geysers of icy water.

            Another wave, bigger than the glacier itself, slammed into the massive block of ice. The glacier shook violently, like when Tsuna had his earthquake powers when we were fighting the Orochi (and I really wish Dad didn’t seal them, they would have been so helpful.) The cracking was deafening this close to it. Soon the ice caved in beneath my feet and I fell towards the icy depths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.
> 
> Apologies for this chapter being shorter than my usual posts. I really tried to make it as long as it was, and I was afraid that if I stretched it it the material would be to, uh, thin and not as good. There's no real excuse for it, but like I have said before (especially in the Rise of Riptide) that fight scenes are difficult, but worth the challenge.


	12. Percy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy.

            My ears were ringing from the thunder that came from the glacier falling apart. Snow and chunks of ice were falling around me. Tsuna was a few feet away, the wind of the fall blowing his long hair back. He really needed a haircut or something.

            I looked down and saw the sea getting closer and closer. There were ripples dotting the surface of the water from everything that was falling. As I got closer to the water my heart was beating faster. I was afraid I was going to drown.

            I know what you’re thinking. ‘Percy, how many times have you been told you won’t drown?’ Sorry, I’m still a little scared. Things in prophecies tend to come true one way or another. And who knows, maybe I can’t breathe underwater here in Alaska, despite being able to use my other powers. After everything I’ve been through, I don’t want to die in my element. There’s no way I would get into Elysium like that.

            I tightened my grip on Riptide and the eagle standard right before we hit the water. At the last second I took a deep breath and held it in when the water swallowed me up. It was so cold, but I guess since I’m the son of a sea god it didn’t bother me that much. And I wasn’t dead from the impact, so that’s great. But I still held my breath, too afraid to do anything.

“ _Really_?” Tsuna asked. “ _You’re really holding your breath_?”

            He swam into view and looked so much better. He really needed to be in the sea and get the energy boost. His hair floated freely around his face. He swam closer and placed his hand on my shoulder

“ _Percy, come on_.” he said. “ _You survived the fall. I’m breathing easily down here, and this isn’t Japan. Come on, just breathe before you suffocate and turn more of your brain cells to kelp_.”

            I was starting to see spots in my eyes from the lack of air. Bubbles slipped past my lips. I can’t remember the last time I held my breath this long. I needed to breathe. I looked at Tsuna and figured that if I started to drown he’d save me.

            I nodded at Tsuna before letting out all of the old air in my lungs, a stream of bubbles floating up to the surface. I took a breath of water in, waiting to choke on the salty brine. But I didn’t. I breathed in the water like I normally did.

“ _Are you over that fear of yours yet_?” asked Tsuna.

“ _Uh, yeah, I’m over it_.” I said. I took in a deep breath of water, feeling so much relief that I can be safe in my element, my home away from home…away from home.

            The two of us just floated around, swimming just out of the way of falling debris. I was starting to think that I over did it a bit. I was just trying to take the ghost army with me, not half the glacier. I wonder what the Mortals will think when they come and visit. I think I caused the biggest glacial break in human history.

            Speaking of the ghosts, they didn’t seem aware of themselves enough to swim to the surface. Some of them had died on impact with the water. Others were smashed by falling pieces of ice and buildings. A few of them were trying to stay afloat but their Imperial Gold weapons and armor were too heavy for them. Their smoky bodies looked like ink in golden armor in the water.

“ _Maybe we should finish them off_.” Tsuna said.

“ _Right_.” I nodded.

            Swimming over we slashed, stabbed, and diced the remaining ghosts. Tsuna and I had a bit of a contest to see who could kill more first. As you would expect, I said yes. Big mistake. Tsuna, being a bigger show off than me, zipped around like a shark tied to a torpedo and rammed into the ghosts. In the end my final count was fifteen, his was twenty four.

            Once the last of the ghosts were finished off I watched as the Imperial Gold weapons and armor sank. They shined in the dark depths. Frank had told me that the Legion lost this huge cache of weapons back in the Eighty’s. We should bring them back to Camp Jupiter. I have a feeling that they’re going to need them real soon.

“ _Do you think that Hazel and Frank offed the giant yet_?” asked Tsuna.

“ _I don’t know, maybe_.” I said. I looked up and saw the damage to the glacier. There was no way we could climb back up now. “ _How are we even going to get back up there_?”

“ _Well, there’s a spell I could use to teleport us up there._ ” Tsuna started.

“ _Why do I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming_?” I asked.

“ _But I haven’t even begun to practice that spell._ ” he explained. “ _We could end up anywhere, and that’s even if the spell works._ ”

“ _Any other ideas_?”

“ _We could just use the water to get up there._ ” he said.

“ _Like a water elevator_?”

“ _More or less._ ” he said. He held out his hand. “ _Come on, it’ll be nothing if we do it together_.”

            I smiled and capped Riptide before taking his hand. I felt that familiar pulling in my gut that came with using my powers. The water started to bubble and swirl around the two of us. We started to float up and up until we broke the surface. Then the water began to rise like a swirling pillar, carrying us back up to the top of the glacier.

            Instantly drying we looked around. Yeah, I really over did it. There was pretty much nothing left of the camp. The only thing left really was the gate, and even that was hanging by a thread. I couldn’t see Frank, Hazel, or the giant anywhere, so they must still be fighting each other. I hope that they are doing alright. I wish I could help them, but they looked like they knew what they were doing.

            After a few minutes Tsuna got bored of waiting and started doing stretches and jumping jacks to entertain himself. Even with my dip in the sea I felt a little tired so I leaned against the eagle standard. While we waited I thought about Frank’s ability.

            How come Dad gave Frank’s family the power to turn into animals? I don’t have that power. I would love to turn into a horse, or a shark, or something cool like that. Maybe I could turn into a bird and fly without Zeus vaporizing me with a lightning bolt.

“Percy you have no reason to be jealous of Frank.” Tsuna said.

“What? Wait, can you read my mind now too?” I asked.

Tsuna laughed. “No Kelp for Brains. You were talking out loud.”

“Oh, uh…” My cheeks felt warmer as I got more embarrassed.

“Listen, Percy, you don’t need shapeshifting.” Tsuna explained. “You already have so many amazing powers: manipulating water, healing and a power boost when you’re in water, hell, breathing under water and even creating giant windstorms. With all of your abilities, you took down Titans, saved my life so many times in Japan, and saved the world so many times. You’re the closest thing this world has to a legitimate superhero we’re ever going to get.”

“Wow Tsuna, I didn’t think you felt that way.”

“Percy, I love you. You being in my life has got to be the greatest thing about it. You know that we have a connection. Not just through Poseidon, or by my adoption. It’s something deeper than that. I am proud and honored to have you in my life, and I can’t, and don’t, ever want to imagine what it would be like without you in it again.”

I was speechless and my face was burning so I looked away from him. “…it’s still a cool power.”

Tsuna laughed again. “And what would you do with shapeshifting anyways? Turn into a dolphin?”

“You can make fun of me all you want, but aren’t you the one who said he was taught magic by, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Rumpelstiltskin?” Tsuna groaned.

“You have absolutely no idea how cruel that little imp could be. He’s an abusive man, fitting for someone called the Dark One. He’s completely ruthless, Perce. I’m half glad that I left Storybrooke before my ‘training’ was finished. The downside is that I can’t seem to really use magic unless I’m really emotional, and from what I’ve noticed the Treasures seem to really do all the work.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it sooner or later.” I said.

“Better sooner than later.” he said. “It could give us an edge in this war with Gaea.” He had this distant look in his eyes for a second. “It could help me save the people I love.”

            I have this feeling that he was talking about Nico specifically. Knowing that Nico of all people captured must be eating up at him. Tsuna’s so protective of Nico, and that was before Nico gave Tsuna some of his blood back at Ryūgū-jō. It made them so much closer, to the point where Tsuna said that he and Nico were Blood Brothers.

“Y’know,” I started to get his mind off the son of Hades, “I still don’t understand your magic. Is it different than what Hecate and her kids can do?”

“Kinda. It’s hard to explain.” said Tsuna. “It’s better if I start from the beginning. While you were missing I went looking for you all over. Nico and I went up and down the entire Eastern seaboard trying to find a hint, a clue, anything to where you could be. After we split up I ended up being attacked by your first monster and getting hurt, even ending up in a hospital—”

“You were in a hospital?!” I screamed.

“Not the point.” he waved me off, as if something as serious as a hospital is nothing. “As I was saying, I ended up in the hospital after a run in with the Minotaur. Emma, Storybrooke’s sheriff, took me in. She helped me investigate the town for any trace of you, just in case you were there. I met so many cool people, but they were a bit wary of me.”

“Why?”

“Because, and you can’t tell anyone this Percy, not even Annabeth, but the people of Storybrooke aren’t from this world.”

“What?! Are they, like, aliens?”

“No. They’re the fairytales that we grew up with, just not the exact same way as you’d think. About twenty eight, thirty years ago, Snow White’s stepmother Regina, the Evil Queen, cast the Dark Curse, a curse so powerful that it ripped the happy endings of everyone in the Enchanted Forest away and brought them here. It altered their memories and froze time.”

“This Dark Curse freezes time? How?”

“I wasn’t exactly told the specifics Perce. Now, back to what I was saying. Emma was prophesized to be the Savior, a person so pure of heart, a product of True Love, that she broke the Dark Curse, restoring everyone’s memories. I was apparently the first person other than Emma to come to Storybrooke since the Dark Curse brought the people of the Enchanted Forest to this world. They were afraid that I’d do something that would be just as bad as the Dark Curse. It didn’t help when the Minotaur came into town.”

“What did he do?”

“He attacked. But he didn’t attack me. He went straight for Snow White. He ignored me, a demigod and went straight for a mortal. I was able to kill the monster, but not before the town’s librarian Belle was really hurt. Even Rumpelstiltskin couldn’t heal her, so I had him take us to the ocean and with my healing abilities in the water together with the Yasakani no Magatama, I saved Belle’s life.”

“But what does this have to do with you learning magic?”

“Well, Storybrooke is completely made of magic. The same can be said of the residents’ lives in this world. You know how Lou Ellen uses magic?”

“It’s through manipulating the Mist, I think.”

“And as Demigods we naturally see through the Mist. The magic from the world of the Enchanted Forest is similar, but different. I was able to see through the Dark Curse and saw glimpses of who everyone really was. Snow White, the Evil Queen, the Blue Fairy, everyone. At first I thought I was hallucinating or had some head injury Doctor Whale didn’t mention.”

“You’re still not telling me about your magic.”

“I’m getting there Percy, just don’t be yourself and be patient for a minute.” I glared at him for a second. “Anyways, after killing the Minotaur and saving Belle the town’s residents blamed me for bringing the monster into their town. They were scared that I would attract more trouble, namely monsters, so they didn’t let me help them repair the town or even treat me nice at all.”

“I’m sorry Tsuna.”

“Not like it’s your fault. Besides, I made several friends there. I guess you can even call Rumpelstiltskin a friend. He’s the reason I knew you were alive. But at first, I thought his locator spell failed, so I got…emotional, and ran off into the woods.” Tsuna scowled. “And then I ran into _her_ again.”

“Who’s _her_?”

“Cora. In this world she’s better known as the Queen of Hearts.” I cocked my head in confusion. Tsuna rolled his eyes. “From Wonderland, Percy. Alice in Wonderland. She saved me one time from a couple of Scythian Dracanea and the Minotaur, acting all sweet and kind. But it was a façade. She used her magic to take control of the Minotaur and had him attack Snow White. When I realized it, she…she…”

“Tsuna, are you okay? What did she do?” Tsuna shook his head and clutched his chest.

“She ripped out my heart.” He said that so quietly I just barely heard him.

“She what?”

“She ripped out my heart Percy.”

“But…how? How can you even be alive?”

“Magic Perce, magic. But if it makes things easier for you, try imagining Kingdom Hearts or something. It’s a type of dark witchcraft that can allow her to control a person as long as she has their heart in her hand.”

“Control? What was she going to make you do?”

“Kill Snow White and Emma, since I was already close to them.”

“You di-didn’t do it did you?” Please gods, tell me he didn’t.

“No, I didn’t.” Oh thank the gods.

“Wait, I thought you said she could control you with your heart?”

“That’s what I was told, but I was able to resist her. Rumpel thought that it was because I wasn’t from their world, or since I’m a demigod so my heart is stronger or something. I thought it was because the sea doesn’t like to be contained. But either way I resisted her orders, so she decided to kill me by crushing my heart. I could hear my heart cracking like glass Percy. I was so scared. Scared that I’d die without saving you, without actually experiencing family with Sally and Paul, without seeing Nico, and uh, Annabeth and Will again.”

“But what happened? You’re obviously not dead.”

“Something…exploded out from me, some energy. It saved me from Cora. She disappeared and left my heart on the forest floor. I didn’t know what to do from there. I just held my heart close to my chest and went to the one person I knew could help.”

“Rumpelstiltskin.” He nodded.

“He was shocked to see my heart ripped out like that, and that Cora was in Storybrooke. Luckily for me, he was still grateful for my part in healing Belle, so he put my heart back into place. I was kinda in shock about the whole heart ripping thing, so he told me about how the locator spell would have located your body if you were dead, so that meant that you were being hidden by a powerful being, Hera, as we now know. And that’s when I told him about that pulse. He tested me and said I had a strong potential for magic and began teaching me that night.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that Tsuna, just so you can find me.”

“Percy, I would fight the Orochi again by myself if it meant that we’d be together again. And besides, I made so many friends in Storybrooke: Emma, Henry, Ruby and her Granny, Ingrid and in a way Rumpelstiltskin. I learned about a new power that was within me, and I’m going to use it to help beat Gaea.”

“With you fighting by our side, we’re sure to win.” I clapped him on the shoulder.

Tsuna smiled. “Thanks Perce. But, can you do me a favor?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Don’t tell anybody about Storybrooke.”

“Why? It seems like a great place.”

“Use your head Percy. Magic from another world? An entire land filled with people brought here, to the land of the gods, through the most powerful curse of that world? Zeus already has issues with me as it is, but throw Storybrooke into the mix? He’ll destroy everyone in that town. I have a feeling that Storybrooke needs to be left alone. They already have enough problems as it is with Cora there.”

“Of course man. I won’t tell anyone.” I said. A few seconds of quiet passed between us, the cold Arctic wind blowing around us. “Not even Annabeth?”

Tsuna laughed hard, holding his sides. “Well, since I plan on letting Nico know, I guess Annabeth can know too. And with her around you can definitely keep a secret.”

“Hey!”

“No offense meant.” Tsuna raised his hands in defense. “Well would you look at that.”

            I turned to where he was looking and saw Hazel and Frank, alive and well, riding Arion. They were able to kill Alcyoneus, thank the gods. They had the right idea to drag the giant out of Alaska. I understood what they were planning before I made the glacier collapse. And people think my head is full of seaweed. I’m not as dumb as some people think I am. And I bet Frank’s power helped a lot, since I bet Alcyoneus still put up a fight out of his territory.

            Remembering Frank’s power got me mad. I don’t know why, but I guess I still was jealous. I looked away and glared down at the wreckage of the glacier. Arion’s hooves clicked and clacked against the ice.

“Hey.” I said to them.

“You-you’re alive!” marveled Frank.

“Oh, the fall? It was nothing.” I said. I saw Tsuna raise his eyebrow in suspicion. “I fell twice that when I fell from the St. Louis Arch.”

“When you did _what_?!” Hazel asked.

“Never mind.” I said. “The important thing is that I didn’t drown.”

“And before you ask, I didn’t save his butt.” Tsuna said. “And by the way, he’s acting all tough when really he was terrified.”

“Dude!”

“See? His reaction says it all.”

“But…that means that the prophecy _was_ incomplete.” Hazel said. “It probably said something like: _The son of Neptune will drown a whole bunch of ghosts_.”

I just shrugged and glared at Frank, making him jump a little. “I got a bone to pick with you Zhang. You can turn into an eagle? And a bear?”

“Oh for God’s sake Perce, we just talked about this!” Tsuna moaned in frustration.

“Shut up and let me have my soapbox moment.” I said, raising my arm in a ‘Talk-to-the-Hand’ position. Tsuna blew out a breath and walked a few feet away.

“He can also turn into an elephant.” Hazel said. Frank’s face turned red and he was rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“An elephant.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe that’s your family gift. You can change shape?”

Frank shuffled his feet. “Um…yeah. Periclymenus, my ancestor, the Argonaut—he could do that. He passed down the ability.”

“And he got that ability from Poseidon.” I said. I crossed my arms. “That’s completely unfair. I can’t turn into animals.”

“I told you to stop being jealous.”

“And I told you to shut up.” I said

“How is that unfair Percy?” Frank asked. “You can breathe underwater and blow up glaciers and summon freaking hurricanes! And it’s _unfair_ that I can turn into a freakin’ elephant?!”

“Good points Frank my man.” Tsuna said. He started rubbing his chin. “But… they sound familiar, don’t they Perce? Like the conversation we had less than ten minutes ago?”

I glared at Tsuna before chuckling a little. “Okay, fine, the two of you make a point. But the next time I say you’re totally _beast_ —”

“Just shut up. Please.” Frank said. I cracked a toothy smile.

“If you boys are done,” Hazel asked. “We need to go. Camp Jupiter is under attack.” She eyed the standard in my hand. “They could use that eagle.”

“Right, but first things first Hazel.” I said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Tsuna? Care to explain?” I asked.

“Course.” He said. “All those shades that Percy and I took down? Remember all that gold armor and weapons they had?” Hazel and Frank nodded.

“They were the Imperial Gold armory that Michael Varus lost back in the Eighties.” Frank said.

“Yeah, well now there’s about a ton of it at the bottom of the bay by now.” I said. “Even that _really_ nice chariot. I’m betting that it will come in handy…”

“Okay, but how will we even get them?” Frank asked. The three of us looked at each other, waiting for someone to say something.

“Really?” Tsuna said. “Am I the only one with a _ny_ imagination?”

“What’s your plan then Tsuna?” Hazel asked.

“Oh, I have a few ideas.”

            It took us a lot longer to get the Imperial Gold out of the water. Hazel used her control over metal to lift some from the deep dark depths of the bay. Frank turned himself into a seal (still wish I could do that) and brought up as much as he could. One time though he barked in my face and I swear it reeked of fish. Tsuna at first tried using his magic to teleport the Gold up, but nothing happened. He was really angry with himself about it, but after talking with him the two of us dove in and used our powers to carry the chariot up.

            After everything was brought up we dragged it to the black sand beach at the base of the glacier. Looking at it all, there was no way we’d be able to bring it all back to Camp Jupiter. We’d have to leave some of it behind. Using Frank’s rope that he bought in Seward we tied the weapons and best armor we could find to the back of the chariot, leaving just enough room for two people to uncomfortably stand.

“It looks like Santa’s sleigh.” Frank said. “Can Arion even pull that much?” Arion huffed, and I will never, _ever_ repeat what Arion said. I kinda want to go tell dad and have him ground Arion or something…but I’m not a nark. Still…

“Hazel,” I said. “I am seriously going to wash your horse’s mouth out if he doesn’t learn to watch what he says. But the G-Rated Version? He says yes, he can pull it, but he needs food.”

“Oh.” Hazel said. She looked at one of the daggers we decided to leave behind. It looked like it was made of pure Imperial Gold, both the blade and handle. “Here you go Arion. High performance fuel.” Arion bit the dagger and chewed a piece off like it was an apple. Note to self, don’t ever feed Arion.

“I, uh, wasn’t doubting Arion’s strength.” Frank said, looking a little freaked at the way Arion tore apart the magical metal. “But this load is pretty heavy. Will the chariot even hold up? The last one—”

“This one has Imperial Gold wheels and axel.” I explained. “It’s better than the one me and Annabeth made a few years back.”

“Speaking of which, why haven’t we made one together?” Tsuna asked.

“Really? You’re thinking about that now?” I wondered.

“What? It’s a good bonding thing.” he said. I groaned and squeezed the bridge of my nose.

“Tsuna, fine, we’ll make one after all this is over and were back at Camp.” I said. “Anyways, the chariot will be fine.”

“If not, it’ll be a short trip.” said Hazel. “But we can’t dilly dally any longer. Camp Jupiter is under attack right now. Come on!”

            Hazel climbed onto Arion’s back and pulled Frank up behind her. The both blushed when Frank wrapped his arms around her waist, but they were smiling at each other too. I think something happened to them when they fought Alcyoneus. They were cute. Tsuna and I squeezed into the front of the chariot. With the weapons in the back, there was little room, so we had to get really close to each other.

“Giddy up!” Hazel yelled.

            The thunder of the glacier breaking up? Yeah, that’s nothing compared to the sonic boom that Arion made. It was like he went from zero to five hundred in under a second. I was blown right into the golden armory we had tied behind us, the g-force so strong that I could barely move. Looking over at Tsuna I saw that his skin looked like it was pulled back, almost like those old school Looney Tunes when the Coyote was tied to a rocket to chase the Road Runner.

            We sped south. Mountains blurred passed us. I caught glimpses of avalanches falling as we passed. Even on the fastest horse on the planet, it took us four hours for us to get from Alaska to San Francisco Bay. On the way here we passed a couple of killer whale pods, a rocky beach in Washington called Ocean Shores (that Tsuna was just barely able to identify for us as we passed), and the coastal forests of Oregon.

            What Alcyoneus said before Frank and Hazel took him on rang in my mind. He said that the _real_ war would happen far away. He said that they were going to take the gods down at their roots. That would only mean Mt. Olympus. The _original_ Mt. Olympus, in Greece. Annabeth said that Giants might be a part of the new prophecy Racheal Elizabeth Dare spoke when she became the new Oracle, plus what happened on our one month anniversary with that giant that looked like Carrot Top. That’s the thing when you date the smartest girl in camp: you learn stuff.

            Once we were at the four hour mark I saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Looking at the bridge reminded me of Annabeth. Her father’s house wasn’t too far away from Camp Jupiter actually. All I needed was a taxi and I’ll be able to call my girlfriend. And even I couldn’t, Professor Chase would be able to call and let Annabeth know where I was and that I was okay. I smiled at the memories I had of Annabeth, especially the two amazing months that we had together as a couple…that is, _before_ her royal Highness Hera, or Juno, decided to kidnap me. Man, if you think me or Tsuna are mad about it, can you imagine how mad Mom will be when she finds out Hera did what she did? Hera should be grateful she’s immortal. But the next time I see her, I’m going to give Her Highness an Olympus sized slap upside the head, that’s for sure.

            I did the math, and with what Tsuna has told me, I was sure of it. The almighty queen of the gods took away eight months of my life. She doesn’t understand that for mortals, we need every second of our lives to, well, live. I can never get those eight months back. All the dates me and Annabeth could’ve had. The family dinners with mom and Paul. I was even going to go see Tsuna in Goode’s play of…uh…um…something with Old Lace in the title, if he decided to audition. Obviously, that didn’t work out for him. And I was working so hard to talk him into it. As much as he tries to hide it, Tsuna’s a total theatre geek.

            But…I understood her plan. Unite the Greek and Roman demigods. Create an elite team of heroes to fight the war and save Olympus. All the while trying to convince the stubborn gods to help us out and fight alongside us. But first things first, we needed to save Camp Jupiter.

            After going under the bridge we tore through Berkeley and into the Oakland Hills. Arion noticeably started slowing down when we got to the hill above Caldecott Tunnel, before coming to a complete stop at the top. Arion shuddered like a broken car and collapsed on the ground. Hazel jumped off (while Frank fell off) and rubbed Arion’s heaving sides.

Hazel patted Arion’s sides lovingly and kissed his snout. “You did great Arion.”

“ _Of course I did great._ ” Arion wheezed. “ _What did you expect_?” Wow, he must be too tired to even cuss.

            After my stomach caught up with me I jumped off the chariot, only for my legs to wobble. Man, were my legs sore. My joints were so stiff I could barely walk. I’d probably be made fun of if I walked into battle like this. I can hear it now, ‘The Legendary Battles of Old Man Jackson.’

“Guys…you need to see this.” Frank said. That didn’t sound good. And when I went over and saw what was happening, my heart sank.

            The battle was already going on, and it wasn’t going well at all. The Twelfth Legion was arrayed on the Fields of Mars. They were doing everything they could to protect the city of New Rome. The Earthborn were being fired on by giant crossbows that if I remember right were called Scorpions. The Legion’s elephant, Hannibal, plowed down monsters left and right.

            There were so many Roman soldiers fighting the Giant’s army. I think even the veteran soldiers from New Rome were fighting too. They were pushing back against an onslaught of wild centaurs. The Lares were so dedicated that their death didn’t stop them. They fought against the black Shades. The Roman’s giant eagles circled the battle field and dove to attack the two gorgons that chased me here in the first place- Stheno and Euryale.

            The Forums of Camp Jupiter were being blasted by glowing green cannonballs that left craters and reduced buildings to ash. They must be made of Greek Fire, and they must have been shot from that Cyclopes’ siege tower. I watched as a cannonball soared over the wall and hit the Senate House and collapsed the dome.

            Reyna was taking on Polybotes all by herself, riding her Pegasus Scipio. She was keeping him occupied. Polybotes roared in anger, swiping at her like she was a fly. But she was doing fine, dodging out of the way of the giant’s attacks with ease.

“Gods…” Tsuna said. That’s right. He’s never actually been in a war before.

“We’re too late.” Hazel said.

“No.” I said, gripping the standard tighter in my hand. “They’re still fighting. We can do this.”

“Where’s Lupa?” Frank asked. He sounded so desperate. “She and the wolves…they should be here. She considers all of us her pups. She wouldn’t just let this happen without being here.”

            Lupa, the wolf goddess. She took me in and trained me after I first woke up. I respected her teachings. But even her and her wolves aren’t front line fighters. They have their own limits. Besides, Lupa would do everything she could for her ‘pups’, but she wanted us to fight our own battles. That’s the Roman way…Lupa’s way.

“She did what she could Frank.” I said. “She slowed down the army on its way south. Now it’s up to us. We’ve got to get this gold eagle and these weapons to the Legion.”

“But Arion is out of steam!” said Hazel, running her hands through Arion’s mane. “We can’t haul all of that by ourselves.”

“Tsuna, do you think you can use your magic to get it down there?” Frank asked.

“Doubtful.” he said. “Even if I could, there’s so much chaos going on down there that where I teleport it could be taken over by the giant’s army the moment the smoke cleared.”

“He’s right, we can’t risk losing the weapons right when we just recovered them.” I said.

“But how are we going to get them down there?” asked Hazel.

I looked to the hilltops after seeing a huge flock of birds flying out of the trees. “Maybe we don’t have to. Back up might be close.”

“What do you mean ‘back up’?” Frank asked.

“Wait, are you talking about—?” Tsuna started, before a shadow of a bird flew over his face. He smiled and I let out a good old fashioned New York cab whistle that would have been heard from Times Square to Central Park.

“ _Please hear that, girl_.” I thought.

            Shadows rippled out of the trees, looking like something demonic was in the little woods. Well, if you look at it a certain way, you could say what’s coming is a demon or something. Out of the shadows erupted a humongous black shape-a huge mastiff the size of a SUV. Mrs. O’Leary came right at me, looking so happy. Behind her, being pulled by her leash was Tyson, my Cyclops half-brother. Ella was flying right beside him.

*WOOF* barked Mrs. O’Leary excitedly.

“Hellhound!” Frank screamed, scrambling backwards behind Tsuna.

“It’s okay!” I grinned. “These are my friends.”

“Brother!” Tyson yelled. He let go of Mrs. O’Leary’s leash and ran straight towards me.

            I tried to brace myself, because I know how Tyson got. Tyson slammed into me and smothered me in a hug. Tsuna gave tight hugs, but with Tyson I was afraid he’s break my back with how strong he was. I could barely breathe. I started seeing black spots and a whole lot of flannel. I took a deep breath when he let me go. I heard him laugh so I looked up to see him staring at me with his massive baby brown eye.

“You are not dead!” Tyson said smiling. “I like it when you are not dead.” Tsuna started laughing.

            I looked over and saw Tsuna rubbing Mrs. O’Leary’s belly. She looked like she was in Elysium. She was groaning and was kicking her legs in the air. Yatagarasu was on Tsuna’s left shoulder, squawking and cawing in his ear between doing some light pecking on Tsuna’s head. I think he was still mad that he had to stay with Ella.

Speaking of Ella, she fluttered down to the ground and started cleaning her feathers. “Ella found a dog. A large dog.” She looked at Tyson for a second before quickly looking away. “And a Cyclops.” Wa-was she blushing?

“Such a good girl.” Tsuna said, now scratching behind her ears. Mrs. O’Leary turned onto her front, where Tsuna kissed her nose. He loves animals. Mrs. O’Leary got excited and licked him, covering Tsuna in dog slobber. “Aw, come on!” I tried to hide my chuckle by covering my mouth. “You think this is funny?” He wiped the drool from his face. I nodded. “Fine. Mrs. O’Leary, sick him.”

“No, Mrs. O’Leary, don—!” I tried to say, but I wasn’t quick enough. My black mastiff pounced on me. Her front paws almost crushed my chest as she licked me over and over until I looked like I just took a dip in a pool filled with dog spit. She barked so loud that even Arion stood up ready to take her on.

“Good girl.” said Tsuna.

“Hey Mrs. O’Leary.” I said, petting her head. “Yeah, I love you too, girl. Good dog.”

“You…you have a hellhound named Mrs. O’Leary?” Hazel squeaked. I guess she never thought anyone other than a child of Pluto would be able to be near hellhounds, let alone be able to be loved like I currently was.

“It’s a long story.” I said after I stood up and wiped the drool off. “You can ask your brother…” Hazel’s expression made me stop. “Oh, Hazel, I’m sorry. I promise you, we’ll find Nico. No matter where he is, I’ll help you save him.”

“Thank you Percy, but…I think I know what happened to Nico.” she said.

“What?” Tsuna said, his smile dropping.

“After we defeated Alcyoneus, Thanatos came to us.” she explained. “He said that Nico went searching for the Doors of Death through the Underworld. That’s where my brother was taken. But he said that Nico is still alive. They must have taken him somewhere.”

“Probably somewhere East.” I said. “Like, Greece East.”

“I…I think that he might be in Rome.” Hazel said. “Thanatos said that we needed to look for the Doors in Rome if we wanted to close them.”

“If I’m right, then we’ll be heading to Greece anyways.” I said. “Us and four others. We’ll all save Nico.”

“Thank you Percy.”

I nodded as Mrs. O’Leary barked again. “Sorry girl.” I said, patting her side. “But yeah, this is my dog, Mrs. O’Leary. Tyson—these are my new friends, Frank and Hazel.” I turned to Ella, who was still preening her feathers. “Are you okay? We were worried about you.”

“Ella is not strong.” she said. “Cyclopes are strong. Tyson found Ella. Tyson took care of Ella.”

Wait a minute-she _was_ blushing! “Tyson, you big charmer you.” I said. Tyson’s face turned as red as Ella’s fathers.

“Um…no.” He stammered out. He signaled Tsuna over closer to us and bent down to whisper in our ears. But this is Tyson we’re talking about, so he didn’t exactly whisper. “She’s very pretty.”

“Uh, guys?” Frank spoke up. “I don’t know if you have noticed, but there’s a battle going on.”

“Right.” I nodded. “Tyson, where’s Annabeth? Is there anybody else coming to help?”

“The big ship is not ready.” Tyson pouted. “Leo says tomorrow, maybe two days.”

“We don’t even have two _minutes_!” I said. I looked to the battle field and saw that the Romans really needed our help. “Okay, here’s the plan. Tyson do see all those people next to the city, the ones with the shields?” He nodded. “They’re our friends, our allies. And the other side? Our enemies. Wild centaurs, nature spirits, cyclopes—”

“Cyclopes?” he asked alarmed.

“Yeah buddy, cyclopes. _Bad_ cyclopes.” I said. “They’re a part of this giant’s army and—”

“I have to hit pony-men?” he asked.

“Just scare them away.” I said. “You don’t have to hurt anyone.”

“Um, Percy?” started Frank. He looked at Tyson like he was scared of the big guy.  “I just…don’t want our friend here getting hurt, since…you know… Is Tyson even a fighter?”

“Is he a fighter?” I asked smiling. “Frank, you’re looking at General Tyson of the Cyclops Army. He’s a general under our father. Oh, speaking of which; Tyson, Frank here’s a descendant of Poseidon too.”

“Brother!” Tyson yelled happily as he swept Frank up in his arms and gave him a bone crushing hug.

I had a really hard time trying not to laugh. “Uh, actually Tyson, he’s more like a great-great-great…uh…you know what? It’s just quicker to say brother.”

“Thanks.” Frank muffled out of a mouth full of flannel. He pushed himself out of Tyson’s grip. “But if the Legion mistakes Tyson for an enemy—”

“What if we made him look Roman?” Tsuna suggested. “Show the Roman’s that he’s on our side?”

“Tsuna that’s perfect!” Hazel said. “I’ve got an idea!” She ran to the chariot and rummaged around until she pulled out the largest Imperial Gold Roman helmet out and an old purple flag that had SPQR written in gold. “Put these on big guy. Then our friends will know you’re on our team.”

“Yay!” Tyson said, slamming the helmet on his head, which must have hurt since it was pretty small. He even ended up tying the banner on backwards, making it look like a giant baby bib. At least people would be able to see the SPQR on the front, so that’s something, “I’m on your team!”

“Looking good Ty.” Tsuna said. Tyson gave Tsuna a toothy smile. It looked like he ate a whole jar of chunky peanut bar recently.

“It’ll do.” I said. “Ella, just stay here. Stay safe.”

“Safe.” repeated the harpy. “Ella likes being safe. Safety in numbers. Safety deposit boxes. Ella will go with Tyson.”

“What?” I said. “Uh, okay, whatever. Just don’t get hurt, okay Tyson? And Mrs. O’Leary—”

*ROOOF!*

“How do you feel about pulling a chariot?” She wagged her tail excitedly. “Good girl.”

            I helped Frank and Hazel hook the Imperial Gold chariot to Mrs. O’Leary. Tsuna kept her distracted by petting her head and talking to her soothingly. She really liked Tsuna, maybe it’s because of his connection to the Yomi, because she’s even friendlier with Nico. Once we were finished I walked back to Tsuna, only to have him glaring at Yatagarasu, who was perched on his head.

“My hair is not a nest.” He said annoyed. Yatagarasu chirped before hopping down onto Tsuna’s left shoulder.

            He turned towards the battle field, watching the war, keeping his hand focused on scratching Mrs. O’Leary behind the ear. I felt sorry for him. Yeah, he fought some serious fights in Japan, and the Orochi was something else (putting it lightly), but he’s never _actually_ been in a full out war before.

“Hey.” I said, grabbing his free shoulder tightly. “You ready?”

Tsuna smirked. “As I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.


	13. Tsuna

            I wondered what we looked like to everyone down on the battlefield. Let’s look at all that we’re bringing to the table. We have four demigods (one of us from a completely different pantheon), a loveable Cyclopes general, a possible romantic Harpy, a three legged crow, an adorable and sweet pushover of a Hellhound, and the worlds’ fastest horse. Yeah, we had to be the strangest, most random reinforcements either side has ever seen. And we’re going up against a Giant, rouge Hellhounds, evil Cyclopes, six-armed creatures that Hazel called Earthborn, and wild centaurs. This ought to be fun.

            Hazel had mounted Arion, who seemed to have recovered enough to carry the daughter of Pluto, and led the charge down the hill, her _spartha_ drawn and ready for battle. Frank, using his newfound gifts, transformed into a bald eagle and flew up into the air. To be honest, I couldn’t tell Frank apart from the other giant eagles that were fighting up in the skies. Does that make me racist? Nah. I climbed up behind Percy on Mrs. O’Leary and held on tight to her, squeezing her with my legs.

            With a loud *WOOF* the friendliest Hellhound on Earth bounded down the hillside. The Imperial Gold arsenal on the chariot clicked and clanked behind her as she ran. Tyson seemed overly excited. He ran down the will waving his signature club and yelled ‘Bad pony-men! BOO!’ Ella helped in her own way, reciting facts from what sounded like a farmer’s almanac as loud as she could. Maybe she wanted to give the Giant’s army headaches so distracting that they couldn’t pay attention to us.

            Percy raised the golden eagle standard high above his head and waved it around. It looked like he got the attention of a few of the Roman soldiers as we went around the perimeter of the camp, but nearly all of them were to concentrated on the battle at hand. Since Frank took to the sky he went straight to the battle, but I couldn’t tell which eagle he was from all the others swooping down to attack. Even Hazel and Arion were getting into the action before we were.

            Percy directed Mrs. O’Leary over a bridge and had her charge into the battle from the most western edge of the field. As our dog plowed her way through I made sure to swing my sword at any monster that came near. I kinda felt bad for attacking centaurs and Cyclopes, but they didn’t seem anything like Chiron or his cousins or Tyson. Plus they’re working for the Giant and Gaea, so…you know…evil.

“Fifth Cohort!” Percy shouted. I looked over his shoulder and saw a group of campers doing everything they could to keep themselves alive. They were struggling to keep their shields up as they protected themselves from a group of Cyclopes that were hammering on them.

            A random Cyclopes turned and saw us coming so he tried to intercept us. At the rate Mrs. O’Leary was going there was no time for her to stop. And Percy needed to steer our Hellhound, so I made a choice to take down the Cyclopes. Grabbing Percy’s shoulder to support myself I stood up on Mrs. O’Leary’s back.

“What are you doing?” yelled Percy.

“Just get that golden payload to the Romans.” I said. “We’ll regroup soon.”

            With that I jumped over his shoulder and vaulted off Mrs. O’Leary’s head, muttering a ‘Sorry, girl’ as I did. The Cyclopes just barely saw me, but he was too slow to do anything about it. I rammed through the Kusanagi through the Cyclops one eye and fell to the ground as he turned into dust.

“Tsuna!” Percy yelled again.

“Go!” I said, more to our pet hellhound than Percy.

            I had a few moments to dodge a giant spiked club that came out of nowhere. The cyclops that attacked swung his club up as I backed off. He slammed his club down again as I rolled away. As the dust cleared a little I dived between the Cyclops’ legs (which is as unpleasant as you’d imagine) and sliced his calves open. The Cyclops fell to his knees, which allowed me to run my sword through his back.

            As the monster turned to dust I was somewhat grateful that Thanatos was back on the clock. I’m kinda curious how his and Death’s little talk went. It obviously didn’t last long, since the Reaper was freed a few short hours ago. Back in Chicago it sounded like Death wanted to give Thanatos an earful, so my curiosity is getting the best of me. Though if it’s anything like his talk with me and my Grandmother Izanami back in New York, then god or not, Thanatos probably soiled himself.

            I offed a couple of centaurs and some rouge hellhounds as I took off in Percy’s direction. By the time I got close Percy was slashing wildly at any monster that got near. As I joined him Hazel regrouped with us and sliced her way through Cyclops after Cyclops, all the while riding on Arion. An eagle (again, I’m guessing its Frank) slashed out a couple of eyes from several Cyclopes. Even Yatagarasu did his part to help, though I think his was a bit more gruesome. He _pecked_ out the eye of some female cyclops. It was Saw level gruesome, and I nearly threw up.

“My eye!” screamed Miss Cyclops. Her blood fell off her face and stained her chain mail dress. But her blindness didn’t stop her from swing her club and sending a few older looking Romans flying.

“Bad Cyclops lady!” yelled Tyson before he ran up and bonked her on the head with his club. The Cyclops woman spun in a dizzy circle before she fell on her ass, gawking in Tyson’s general direction.

“Who—?”

“General Tyson says GO AWAY!” Tyson bellowed before slamming his club full strength on her head. She turned to dust before any sound could be let out of her mouth.

“Good one Ty!” I said over the roar of the battle. He gave me a toothy grin and a double thumbs up.

            I gave him thumbs up too and ran to Percy and Mrs. O’Leary. The Cyclopes were starting to thin out a bit in this immediate area, but if we were going to get a chance to at least pass out the armory we hauled from Alaska we needed to get rid of a lot more. At least there’s the Romans helping out too. I fought my way back to Mrs. O’Leary and Percy, who seemed to relieve to see me.

“Nice of you to join us.” Percy said. “What took you so long?”

“Oh, you know. A Cyclops here. A Hellhound there. The usual.” I responded.

“RUFF!” barked Mrs. O’Leary. Her were teeth bared, the fur on the back of her neck was standing on end, and she looked ready to pounce on anything that got close.

“Easy girl.” said Percy. “Wait until we unhitch you.”

“Go, I’ll watch your back.” I said.

“Right.” he said.

            After what I guess was five minutes, pretty much every monster in a fifty yard radius was nothing but piles of ashes. Man, can these Roman fight. I can understand how their empire lasted for so long. Hazel steered Arion closer to the chariot as an eagle landed in front of the soldiers Percy called the Fifth Cohort and transformed into Frank. Ok, how is it that Frank has a pretty good handle on the power that he just discovered he had _hours_ ago, and I’m struggling to use magic? _That’s_ not fair.

“Fifth Cohort!” bellowed Frank. “Come get your Imperial Gold weapons right here!”

            The Roman soldiers seemed shocked that Frank was an Animorph. But the moment the words ‘Imperial Gold’ left Frank’s mouth the chariot was mobbed by the Romans. Percy had a hard time trying to pass out weapons and armor as fast as possible with the way the Roman were mobbing him, so Hazel jumped off Arion and helped out. Mrs. O’Leary and I covered them the best we could. However, I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was being stared at.

            At one point a rouge Hellhound pounced on me, knocking me to my back. I felt its claws digging into my chest, and I could smell sulfur on its breath. I tried to swing my sword but the demonic pit bull put a paw on my right arm and held me in place. As it bared its fangs to rip my throat out Mrs. O’Leary tackled it off me at the last second.

            They rolled in the dirt before getting back on all fours. Both Hellhounds had their fangs showing and looked ready to kill each other. They both charged and tackled each other, biting and scratching each other. They both were vicious, but Mrs. O’Leary had size and strength on her side. She pinned the rouge Hellhound onto the ground and ripped its throat out, ironic since that’s what it was going to do to me. Mrs. O’Leary came up to me and licked my face. I was so grateful that there was no blood or gore on her mouth from killing the Hellhound, since it fell apart into shadows and ash.

“Good girl.” I said as I scratched her behind the ears. “You did a good job. Once this is over I’ll get you a huge juicy steak. Maybe I can even convince Hazel to find you a dinosaur bone? Like that one Nico got you? Would you like that girl?”

“WOOF!” she barked, her wagging tail thumping loudly against the dirt.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” I turned to see a tall and buff teenager grinning like a madman. He took a swig out of a flask on his side. I didn’t expect an army as serious as the Romans would let in people who drink alcohol in battle. But he must be a son of Dionysus, or whoever his Roman counterpart is. “Our Comrades need our help!”

            As if his words were a starting gun, the Fifth Cohort broke out into a run straight into the Giant’s Army. They looked…reenergized, with their new weapons and shields and armor. It’s like they thought that they were the most powerful soldiers in the Roman army. The Imperial Gold shined in the sun. In fact, with the way they glowed you could say that they were fighting with pieces of the sun itself. Though they weren’t looking very consistent. Some had leather armor, others had Gold. Some were wielding Celestial Bronze, others Gold. You get the idea.

Percy let out a whistle. “Mrs. O’Leary! Come here girl!”

            Mrs. O’Leary barked excitedly. Before she got too far I grabbed her fur and pulled myself up onto her back. I patted her side as she rushed over to Percy. My brother ran in the middle of the gilded Cohort, just waiting for Mrs. O’Leary to catch up. Once we did, Percy ran alongside her, his hand out. I reached down and pulled him up.

“Thanks Tsuna!” He yelled as he sat in front of me.

“Just do what you do Kelp Head!” I yelled back.

“Everyone! Follow the eagle!” Frank ordered. The campers, forty of them, cheered and doubled their efforts into killing as many monsters as they could, screaming for blood. Percy raised the Eagle Standard higher.

            We all slammed into a herd of wild centaurs, which looked nothing like the Party Ponies I heard about. They were attacking another battalion of campers, or is the term Cohort? Either way, we charged in and took the centaurs down. The other Cohort shouted insanely when they saw the standard in Percy’s hand. They looked tired when I first saw them, but the moment they saw the standard they fought with renewed vigor.

            The centaurs didn’t stand a chance. I almost felt sorry for them, if it wasn’t for the fact that they worked the Big Bad Gaea. The Fifth Cohort and the other converged on the centaurs, pushing against them on both sides like a vice. In no time at all that was left of these wild centaurs were piles of dust, some hooves, and a series of bows and arrows after we were through with them.

“Great job guys!” Percy said. “Now, we need to regroup with the other Cohorts and Reyna!” The two Cohorts cheered. “Let’s g—”

“Percy, look out!” I yelled. While he was talking I had saw something dive down from the sky and fly at us like a sleek black rocket. At the last second I pushed him off Mrs. O’Leary as a large Gryphon grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me into the sky.

“Tsuna!” Percy screamed, though he was quickly turning into a smaller and smaller figure as the Gryphon carried me higher into the sky.

“Let go of me you mutant chicken!” I thrashed in the Gryphon’s grasp. It tightened its talons around my arms. I remembered Ajari and Daranibō, and how they liked to snatch people up like this. It’s not something I’d like to relive for much longer.

            The battlefield was getting smaller and smaller the higher up we went. I couldn’t even see Mrs. O’Leary clearly, that’s how high we were. Everyone looked like ants from up here. I’m legitimately surprised the Zeus hasn’t done anything to strike me down, since I’m in his territory.

            I needed to get back to the ground. But first, I needed to get away from this Gryphon. Unfortunately I couldn’t move my sword arm to attack the creature. I continued to struggle in the Gryphon’s grip before I decided to pull myself up as far as I could go and bite the Gryphon’s leg as hard as I could. The Gryphon screeched in pain as its grip on my right arm slackened.

            Using this chance I wrestled my arm out of the Gryphon’s claw. The sudden shift in my weight caused the Gryphon to drop a few feet. As it squawked and flapped its wings to regain control of its flight I swung my sword, cutting deep into its throat. It let out a garbled screech before it turned into dust and black feathers. And then I fell. Not going to lie, it was exhilarating. But that feeling quickly went away when I remembered that I was going to be turned into paste when I hit the ground.

            I could feel the air pressure pushing against my chest, making it hard to breathe. My hair was flailing wildly. The ground was coming up way to fast. Maybe…maybe I can do that spell. It’s one that I’ve been having so much trouble with, and I certainly have the motivation to cast it. I focused on the teleportation spell that Rumpelstiltskin tried to pound into my head (literally), but it didn’t work. Not even that puff of smoke that I grew accustomed to being a sign of magic didn’t appear.

“YATAGARASU!!” I screamed as loud as I could, but I could barely hear myself over the wind blowing past my ears.

            Unfortunately for me, my little birdy friend didn’t come flying to my rescue. He must be busy doing something else, which is odd, as he hates to leave my side at all if he can help it. The ground was getting terrifyingly closer, and I swear I was going to die. My chest as starting to really hurt with how hard and fast my heart was beating. If I died, will Death take me to my grandmother Izanami or to the Underworld?

            When I almost hit the ground something swooped down and caught me. I landed on its back and instinctively held on as it curved up back into the sky. Once the drumming in my ears stopped and I calmed down a bit, I realized I was on the back of one of the giant Roman eagles. Its feathers were soft between my fingers. It flew just above the battlefield, allowing me to catch my breath.

The eagle started chirping at me, as least I think it was. “Uh…Frank?” I asked. The eagle looked back at me and nodded. “Ok. Cool. Thanks for the save man. Um…think you can let me down now?”

            On the way down I saw two huge groups of campers attacking the giant. Polybotes, if I’m remembering right, was being encircled by the campers, but that wasn’t stopping him. He swung his trident (which looked like a rip off of Poseidon’s) and slammed the campers away from him. And if that wasn’t enough every time his head shook his hair fell out and turned into snakes which the campers did everything in their power to avoid.

            And then there were the Earthborn. During my little skydiving incident a little bit ago I vaguely recall seeing some of the campers quite nearly obliterating a huge amount of the creatures. The ones that are still around were tossing barrages of boulders and mud at the campers and at a small fort. And every now and again I’d see some campers being yanked to the ground and pulled away from their battle with Polybotes.

“ _Karpoi_.” Frank said after we were back on the ground.

“What?” I asked.

“Grain spirits.” he explained. “Real pains in the neck. They almost kidnapped Hazel on our way to Alaska.”

“Know a good way to kill them?”

“They’re afraid of fire, I know that much.”

“Hmm, too bad I can’t throw fireballs.” I said. “Could come in real handy right now.”

“I’m sure your sword can do some damage.” Frank said.

“You got that right.” I exclaimed. “Let’s go.”

            We ran as fast as we could, trying to regroup with the Fifth Cohort and Percy. Hopefully he didn’t overreact when I was nabbed from Mrs. O’Leary’s back. But this _is_ Percy we’re talking about. I didn’t put too much thought into it because an Earthborn popped out of the ground like a pimple. It thought it could stop us, or maybe kill us. It didn’t stand a chance. Frank shifted into a bear and rammed the Earthborn with full strength and knocking it down.

            While Frank was slamming his bear paws on the Earthborn’s face I saw a wild centaur draw back his bow. I rushed over to try to intercept and kill the centaur before he fired but I didn’t react quickly enough. The arrow went flying and it was heading right for Frank’s head. I ran as fast as I could between Frank and the arrow, and held my sword up, the flat of the blade facing the centaur. The arrow hit the Kusanagi and broke into fragments. I had to close my eyes so no wooden shrapnel would fly into them.

Frank let out a roar as his Earthborn turned to dust and sank back into the dirt. “Hey Frank…” He turned to me, still in his bear form. “This might sound, uh, demeaning but, um…can I ride you?” Frank the Bear let out a noise which I’m pretty sure was Bear Frank’s version of ‘What the hell?!’ “Yeah, I know how it sounds, but as a bear you run faster than a person, so if I ride you we’ll get back to the others quicker.” He snorted but he leaned down and let me get onto his back. “Thanks buddy.”

            With me riding on Frank we regrouped with the Fifth Cohort in no time. They were doing an amazing job. I think that this is what the Battle of Manhattan was like a little less than a year ago, right before I moved to New York with my mom. Maybe a bit more chaotic, since compared to what I’m seeing with the Romans, the Greeks were a lot more…freestyle. I hopped off Frank and after he shifted back into human form we ran closer to the front, where Percy had to be.

“Romans!” cried someone from above. Looking up I saw that girl riding a peanut butter colored Pegasus. She was wearing golden armor and her purple cape billowed behind her. Polybotes swung his trident and threw his large metal net at the girl on the Pegasus, but she dodged with such grace.

“Reyna.” Frank said, at the same moment I spotted Mrs. O’Leary.

“She important?” I asked, cutting down a rouge Hellhound and sprinting to my dog.

“She’s one of our leaders, our Praetor.” he explained as he tried to keep up. Reyna flew her Pegasus past Polybotes (but not before she had her Pegasus stomp on the Giants’ face) and steered him to the front of the Fifth Cohort. She looked at Percy, and I swear, she had a huge smile on her face.

“Rally to the eagle!” Reyna yelled, her voice booming across the battlefield as if she was hooked up to a PA system. From what I could tell, nearly everybody, demigods and monster alike, stopped and gawked at Percy.

“What is this?” demanded Polybotes, glaring at Percy. “ _What is this_?!”

            By the time I stood next to Mrs. O’Leary’s side, I felt all the hair on my body stand on end. The air, overpowering the stench of spilled blood and kicked up dirt, was the distinct smell of ozone. The smell of a thunderstorm. Percy stood on Mrs. O’Leary’s back and raised the eagle standard high above his head, pointing it right at Polybotes and his army.

“Twelfth Legion Fulminata!” Percy shouted.

            So many things happened at once. First the entire valley shook like crazy with thunder. The golden eagle standard in his hand crackled with electricity. I was scared that it would hurt him, but Percy looked fine. In fact, he looked empowered. And then in a blinding flash thousands of tendrils of lightning exploded from the standards’ spread wings. It arched in front of Percy like a giant deadly tree. The lightning striked monster after monster, jumping from one evil creature to the next, and completely ignoring any Roman soldier.

            When the lightning stopped, the Romans were standing in between hundreds of piles of ash. Polybotes stood there, amidst his remaining soldiers, with his jaw hanging from its hinges. He backed up a few feet, followed by some of his monsters, scared that a huge chunk of their army was just been decimated.

At that moment all the Romans began to cheer and shout. “Rome! Rome! Rome! Rome! Rome!” The cheers were so loud that you could probably hear them from San Francisco.

“Stand your ground!” yelled a gorgon, who for some reason was carrying a tray of little weenies. “I’ve got free samples!”

“ARGH!” bellowed the giant. He slammed the base of his trident onto the ground. “You think this changed _anything_ , Percy Jackson!” He roared and shook his head, causing more snakes to fall from his hair. “This changes _nothing_!” He spread his arms and gestured to his remaining forces, which was still big enough to overwhelm all of us. “The Legacy of Rome will die today! I cannot be destroyed! Come forward, son of Neptune. I will _break_ you!”

“He really hates you.” I said to Percy.

“Tsuna!” he cried. “Thank the gods, Frank caught you.”

“You sent Beast Boy here to save me?” I asked.

“Well, Yata was busy distracting a—”

“You know what; I don’t want to hear it.” I said. “So what are you going to do?”

“I’ll think of something.” he said as he slid off of Mrs. O’Leary. “Dakota, come here.” The guy who I assumed was related to Dionysus came up to Percy and saluted him. “Uh, at ease.” Dakota lowered his arm and took a swing from his flask. Percy held out the standard. “You are the cohort’s senior centurion. Take care of this from me, will ya?” Dakota dropped his flask mid sip, spilling red liquid down his front.

Once he got over his shock, Dakota quickly took the standard into his hands. “I will carry it with honor.”

“Cool…?” Percy started, although he didn’t seem to know what to say next. Soon Hazel and Tyson regrouped with us. “Guys, I need you to take care of the Fourth Cohort. I’ve got a giant to kill.”

“You’re not going to get far by yourself.” I said. “I’m coming with you.”

“Tsuna—”

“Don’t try to talk my out of it.” I said. “It’s no lie or anything like that together we’re extremely powerful. And you don’t have the Curse of Achilles anymore. You’re going to want my help.”

“Good to know what you think, but that’s not what I was going to say smartass.” Percy smiled. “I was going to say you better bring your A game.”

“Oh.” I said dumbstruck. “Well…let’s go.”

            Percy and I ran led the charge into the remaining forces of the monster army. Polybotes stood his ground, arms crossed and waiting for Percy to come fight him. Cyclopes and centaurs and all the other remaining monsters came at us, surrounding the two of us, making us stand back to back. The monsters didn’t attack us, probably two scared, especially now that they can die permanently. They watched us, sneaking closer when they happened to see an opening.

“Think you can handle this many?” asked Percy.

I looked around, tightening my grip on my sword. “Well, it might be tough if one more shows up.”

Percy chuckled. “Then that’ll be the one I’ll take care of.”

“What?” I asked smiling. “You’re fighting too?”

            The two of us just stared at the monsters, just waiting for one of them to make the first move. It was a Cyclops that tried to attack first. It ran forward and swung a club about as thick as a redwood, which ended up being way too slow of an attack despite the immense strength of Cyclopes. I sliced its stomach open and killed the monster. The other monsters charged after the Cyclops fell.

            We fought in perfect sync, Percy and I. As the monsters came at us we swiped and sliced together. In the corner of my eye I saw a centaur running to trample Percy, so I swung my sword. At the same time as my swing, Percy ducked under and stabbed a Hellhound in the face. A Cyclops charged at me. Percy saw him too and held out his hand. I grabbed it and pulled him into a quick running start so he could jump and stab the one eyed monster.

            Percy and I fought like this for quite a while, or at least it felt that way. With the two of us fighting together on the same wavelength like this we were untouchable…I really hope I didn’t just jinx us with that. I couldn’t really tell with all the fighting, but I think that, when I saw the Romans, they were in awe. Maybe they never seen anybody fight like the way Percy and I were.

            After a while though, I was starting to feel the effects of doing non-stop fighting. My muscles were burning (and not in the fun way) and I was breathing like I just ran a ten mile marathon. Even Percy was starting to look half dead, covered in dirt and sticky with sweat. Can you really blame us though? We’ve been doing nothing but fighting since this morning, and I wouldn’t call the roller coaster of a ride with Arion a break.

“Tsuna, I don’t think we can keep this up.” Percy said when he backed up into me.

“No kidding.” I said. “They just keep coming. These guys are gluttons for punishment.”

Percy slashed through one of those _Karpois_. “Can you do anything? A spell or anything?”

“Yeah, haven’t had a chance to focus on magic here Perce.” I said, tripping a Centaur and killing it with a downward thrust of my sword through its chest.

“Well we need a way to thin the herd a bit here man.” he said.

“Like what?!”

“I don’t know, a distraction?!”

“And how would I be able to do that?!”

“Your Mirror, jackass!”

Oh shit, he’s right. “Okay, but what?”

“I don’t know!” He parried an attack from a sword wielding centaur. “Something! Anything big will do! Maybe something that can scare the monsters away or distract them long enough for the Romans to finish them off!”

“All right, fine!” I said. I took my necklace out from under my shirt and took the Yata no Kagami off. It glowed silver as it grew a bit. “Cover me!”

“Gotcha!” he yelled over the roar of war.

            Percy stuck close while I tried to think. Something big. Something big. What the hell am I supposed to make? Godzilla? I don’t think me or the Mirror has enough juice to pull that off again at the moment. But gods I wish I could, my inner fanboy would squeal all over again. But maybe something a bit less intricate this time...okay, how about—

“Tsuna!!” Percy screamed.

“Okay, I got it!” I yelled back. I raised the Mirror above my head and focused. “ _Come on, please work_!”

            The Yata no Kagami started glowing in bright silver and began gumming with power. The monsters and Roman directly around us stopped fighting for a moment and stared at me, well, at the Treasure. The silver light reached its zenith before it erupted into the sky in a pillar of moonlight. The light then spread out from the pillar until it encompassed the entire battlefield.

            When the light cleared everybody looked around, trying to figure out what happened. The monsters were wary and the Romans looked for something bad to happen. It was too quiet, which is terrifying in the middle of a war like this one. But then there where the screams. Not screams of war, but of terror. The monsters roared and yelped and screeched, trying to make themselves look bigger and stronger.

            Well, this wasn’t my best work, and it’s not like I had a lot of time to think of something better. Using the power of the Yata no Kagami I had created a large, no, huge Japanese style dragon. Its scales were dark blue. Its three toed talons looked wickedly sharp. It flicked out its red tongue as it coiled in the air.

“Yeah, I think that’ll work.” Percy said.

The dragon just stayed there, writhing in the air. “Get them.” I ordered.

            The dragon roared, shaking the entire battlefield and dove down. There were more screams both the Romans and the monsters. As its roars echoed across the battlefield it flashed its fangs and bared its talons. The monster started to run away, while Polybotes was telling them to stay and fight, despite his own legs shaking.

“Romans!” Someone yelled over the chaos. “Ignore the Giant’s army!”

“Damn it Octavian.” Percy gritted through his teeth.

“Who?” I asked.

“That guy, over there.” Percy pointed to a sickly pale blonde guy, wearing polished armor and a purple silk cape. He had a knife at his hip, and a stuffed animal hooked to his belt. “He’s the Camp’s Augur, basically their Oracle.”

“Divert your attention to the dragon!” screamed Octavian. “We can kill the Giant and his ilk after we deal with that.

“Wait, is this the guy you guys were talking about and Frank’s Grandmother’s?” I asked. “The one obsessed with the Sibylline Books?”

“Yeah, him.” said Percy. He ran forward and waved his arms like crazy. “Everybody ignore him! The dragon is on our side! He’s here to help!”

“Don’t trust him!” Octavian countered. “We can’t trust a _Graceus_!”

“Octavian, you little—Reyna, please!” begged Percy. Reyna looked at Percy, as if she was looking into his soul.

“Focus on the Giant’s army!” she ordered. “We’ll deal with the dragon later.”

            The dragon kept roaring and swiping at any monster that was unlucky enough to get in its way. They kept running away, sometimes right into the path of the Roman soldiers. Those monsters didn’t last long. Others were running to the kills.

“Fight!” bellowed Polybotes. “Fight you cowards!”

“Tsuna, why isn’t the dragon attacking anything, it’s only scaring them.” asked Percy.

“Probably because Dad sealed most of the Mirror’s powers.” I explained. “I can make illusions, but they’re not going to be like the ones we experienced back in Japan.”

“Even if it isn’t real, it sure is scaring Polybotes.” he pointed out. He was right, Polybotes was trying to stand his ground, but his legs were shaking and he backed up a few feet whenever the dragon got anywhere close to him. “Maybe we can make him retreat.”

“Worth a shot.” I said.

            I sent an order to the dragon to head straight for Polybotes. The dragon curved up into the air and spun in a spiral during its accent. It stared at the giant for a moment before roaring and diving. Polybotes actually screamed and backed up pretty quick. But that didn’t last all too long. Polybotes gritted his teeth and let out a primal scream. He planted his feet and when the dragon was within reach he swing his trident. It went straight through the dragon’s snout. The dragon went transparent before it faded in silver light.

“What?!” screamed Polybotes. “An illusion?! You think some illusion can stop me? ME?! I am Polybotes, son of Gaea and Tartarus! I am the bane of Neptune! Nothing can stop me! Not even you, Shinto Spawn!”

“Oh shit.” Percy and I said at the exact same time.

“Yes, I know you are here.” Polybotes said. “The Earth Mother warned me of your interference after Alcyoneus fell. But it does not matter! Your presence will not change the outcome of this battle! I will conquer the Romans and take the son of Neptune as my hostage. He will suffer before I erase Neptune from the world!”

            The Romans were murmuring amongst themselves, and I did catch them saying ‘Shinto demigod, here?’, ‘There’s such a thing as Shinto gods?’ and ‘What’s a Shinto?’ This isn’t good, not at all. But we’ll, actually, _I’ll_ deal with that later. We do have much more important issues at hand after all. And hopefully the Romans feel the same right now, or I’m screwed.

“Well, son of Neptune?!” bellowed Polybotes. “I can sense you nearby. Come, face your demise! You may have scared off some of my army, but I still have enough forces to tear Rome from its foundations!”

            At that moment there were war cries. We all followed the noise to the northern hills, where another army ran over the ridge. There were hundreds of warriors, wearing black-and-grey camouflage, wielding spears and shields. Some were sprinting into battle, while others were riding forklifts with their tines sharpened to a point and mounted with giant crossbows. Sound familiar?

“Amazons.” Frank moaned. “Great.”

“Aha!” laughed Polybotes. “You see! Our reinforcements have arrived. You stand no chance of victory! Today, Rome will fall!!”

“Whose side are you guys on?” Frank asked.

“Please Hylla, please be alive.” Hazel prayed.

            The Amazons (or is it Amazonians? Eh, who cares?) lowered their spears and charged down the hill. Their forklifts jumped up and down as the rolled the hill. I didn’t see any men in orange jumpsuits, so at least the Amazons didn’t bring any meat shield slaves. The Amazons were running straight for us, which the monsters cheered at. But their cheers died when the Amazons veered off towards the Giant’s army.

“Amazons, forward!” Standing on the largest forklift was the Amazon Queen I met back in Seattle, wearing padded black combat armor and a golden belt around her waist. Hylla, if I’m remembering correctly. Going from what I have seen of the two of them, she must related to the Roman leader Reyna.

“Queen Hylla!” Hazel said happily. “She’s alive!”

Queen Hylla pointed her spear at the Giant’s army and shouted. “To my sister’s aid! Destroy the monsters!”

“Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!” Her troops cried out, echoing the air.

            With the Amazons here, the battlefield just fell into complete and utter chaos. Not that it wasn’t chaotic before, but this was a lot worse. Romans and Amazons were working together, a lot better than one would assume. Then again, they do have a common enemy. You know the saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

            I stuck by Percy’s side, fighting as hard as I could. We mowed down the monsters, even ended up saving a group of Amazons. Not the best idea, let me tell you. They were not happy that they were ‘saved’ by a couple of men.

“Percy Jackson!!” screamed Polybotes.

“Somebody wants your attention.” I said.

“Yeah, he does.” Percy cracked his neck before walking towards the giant.

I stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To end this.” he explained.

“And how do you expect to do that?” I asked.

“What?”

“How are you going to kill him?” I asked him. “I don’t see a god here willing to help. And I remember being told that these freaks can’t be killed without a god and demigod working together.”

“There isn’t one though Tsuna.” he said.

“Technically…there is. Actually three of them.” I said.

“What are you talking about?”

I held my sword out. “Don’t you remember? My father’s essence is in this sword, _the_ most powerful sword in the Shinto Pantheon.”

“I don’t understand Tsuna.” he said. I rolled my eyes.

“Take my sword Kelp Head.” I said. “Use it to take down that Giant.”

“Tsuna, I don’t know if it’ll work.” he said. I let out a breath before pushing my sword into his hand.

“Use it Percy.” I said. “My father is in the Kusanagi. Even though he isn’t able to help like Poseidon would, he is still a god working alongside with you. You should be able to kill Polybotes with it.”

Percy sighed and smiled. “Thanks Tsuna. I’ll take good care of it. Here, you’re going to need some protection.” He handed me Riptide, which I gripped tightly.

“Be safe Perce.” I said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” He said. He turned towards Polybotes, and glared at him. He pointed at the giant and said: “You. Me. Let’s finish this.”

            Percy ran towards the aqueduct of that big fort, with Polybotes chasing after him. I focused on the monsters and helping out as many people as I could. At times I saw Frank turn back into an eagle and grab a Cyclops by the shoulders and drop him from a fatal height, before switching into an elephant and ramming into a series of Earthborn. Hazel, while riding Arion, weaved and slashed at so many monsters in the blink of an eye. Tyson was being the loveable oaf he is, smacking the enemy with his ‘big stick.’

            The Romans kept eyeing me strangely. Maybe they were weirded out by my sword, which, as anyone can clearly see, isn’t your standard as a Roman weapon. Or perhaps they noticed that I didn’t really use a fighting style they were used to, pretty much a mix of kendo, some fencing, and Greek fighting. Either way, it was kind a hard to focus on fighting alongside them with the way they were acting. Percy was keeping Polybotes busy. He didn’t look hurt, thank gods, but he was on the run from the giant, who was tossing disgusting green blobs at him.

            Before I could run over to help him I heard a scream from not too far away. I turned around trying to find the source of the scream. Through the chaos I saw a wounded demigod clutching his leg with one arm and a golden knife in the other, trying to ward off a particularly mean looking Centaur. I broke out into a run to save him. When I saw that the Centaur had backed the kid up against a rock I started freaking out.

“ _I’m not going to make it._ ” I thought. “ _I’m not going to make it_!”

            I could hear the wounded soldier whimper in fear from here. The Centaur let out a cruel laugh before it reared up, bringing its front hooves into the air to stomp on the boy. I pushed myself even harder to run even faster. I readied Riptide in my hand and threw it over my shoulder as hard as I could. The Celestial Bronze sword flew through the air, its metal singing as the wind passed over it. I prayed to Apollo and my father and every god I could think of (even Hera regrettably) so that Riptide would hit its mark.

            The gods must have been smiling down on me, or maybe wanted a favor down the line, but Riptide soared through the air and hit its mark, embedding itself deep in the Centaur’s back. The Centaur grunted, hopefully gurgling on its own blood, before it turned to dust. When I got to the kid I picked up Riptide and shook it to get the dust off.

“Thanks.” said the kid.

“No problem.” I said, stabbing Riptide into the ground and looking the kid over. He looked about…fourteen, maybe fifteen at the oldest. He couldn’t be older than Will or Nico. “You okay?”

“My leg hurts.” he said.

            I gingerly laid my hands on his leg and tried to see what was wrong. Will taught some basic of diagnosis, and I do mean the mere basics. And it didn’t help when he was teaching me that I pretended to be House. The kids’ leg had a really bad bruise, and it was bleeding a bit. He let out a hiss of pain as my fingers grazed really bad bump.

“Your leg’s broken.” I said. “What happened?”

“That Centaur stomped on it.” he explained. “After I fell.”

“At least the bone didn’t break through your skin.” I said. “What’s your name?”

“Anthony, son of Ceres of the Fourth Cohort.” He said.

“Nice to meet you Anthony. The name’s Tsuna.” I said, which earned me a smile. I just noticed, but Anthony had nice eyes, as brown as freshly tilled soil. I even saw some hair as yellow as corn peeking out from under his helmet. “You’re going to be alright. I should be able to heal i—”

“Behind you!!” screamed Anthony. I quickly turned my head to see a series of those _Karpoi_ things coming right at the two of us. They looked like some CreepyPasta versions of Cupid, if Cupid was made out of wheat.

            I ripped Anthony’s Imperial Gold knife out of his hand and held it back handed. I held Riptide high in my right hand. I made sure to keep Anthony behind me the entire time I fought the grain spirits. While it wasn’t like the duel wielding I did back in Japan, since I was using a knife instead of Nico’s sword, it was kinda thrill none the less. Ever since I saw Roxas do it in Kingdom Hearts 2, I always wanted to do it.

            I cut the _Karpoi_ down like I was ready for the seasonal harvest. In the back of my mind I was thinking I should use a scythe, if I was taking down grain spirits. Every time one died, they would blow up into some random cereal. A pile of Cocoa Puffs there, a pile of Fruity Pebbles there. I did everything in my power to keep Anthony safe from these viscous little beasts.

            More and more of these _Karpoi_ kept coming. It was like they had a grudge against Anthony, and I don’t know why. The grain spirits clawed and bit me with their canine-like teeth. After I slashed one grain spirit in half a group of them turned into a whirlwind of different grains-wheat, oats, barely- and rammed into me and knocking me on my ass.

            I scooted back and made sure to keep Anthony shielded with my body. The _Karpoi_ reformed and sprinted straight for us. I held Riptide up in defense, only to see a barrage of arrows hit the grain spirits and pretty much vaporizing them. When I stood up a group of Roman soldiers came running up.

“Anthony!” yelled a college age looking woman. “Are you alright?!” She bent down to check him over.”

“Kaitlyn…” Anthony said quietly, just letting this Kaitlyn check him over.

Once she was satisfied that he only had a broken leg she turned to me. “You protected him?” I nodded. “Thank you.”

“I would have done it for anyone.” I said. “But I need to heal his leg before it gets worst.”

“How?” She asked. “Are you a Healer or a son of Apollo?”

“No, not really.” I explained. “I can just do things that other demigods can’t.”

“Kaitlyn, he has to be that Shinto demigod the Giant talked about.” said one of the soldiers. “We should take him in.”

Kaitlyn shook her head. “No, he’s helping us fight. And if he can help Anthony, we should help him.” The soldiers nodded. “We will watch your back. Please, just help Anthony.”

“Thank you.” I said.

            I took off the Yasakani no Magatama, the seven red jewels gleaming in the sunlight. When I held them over Anthony’s leg they started to glow in a bright red gold light. But before I could actually start healing the son of Ceres, more monsters came. Kaitlyn and her group of Romans fought to keep them at bay, but I couldn’t heal Anthony here. I needed to get him out of here.

I let out a loud whistle. “Mrs. O’Leary!! Come here girl!” I yelled.

            I don’t know where she is, but my pet Hellhound didn’t come running. One part of me was worried that she had gotten ‘put down’, but she’s one of the strongest friendly monsters there is. I didn’t have much time to worry about it because a large shadow covered me and Anthony. It was another Cyclops, and this one was significantly bigger than any I have seen. I held Anthony close as the one eyed monster raised an axe of Celestial Bronze over its head.

“Mrs. O’Leary!!” I screamed, cupping my hands to increase the volume. At the same moment the Cyclops swung his axe down he was tackled to the side by a giant black furred tank. And when the tank stood up, it was Mrs. O’Leary. “Good girl!” I said, scratching her behind the ears. Her right hind leg bounced up and down in excitement. “You did a good job. You’re definitely getting some treats after all this. But first, I need you to care me and Anthony here to a safe place, okay?” She barked. “Thanks girl.”

            She lied down as low as she could. Putting an arm around Anthony’s shoulders and under his legs I lifted him bridal style. After settling him on Mrs. O’Leary’s back I climbed on and held him close to my chest so he wouldn’t fall. I felt him stiffen at the contact, but I wasn’t going to out any stock into it.

“Where are you going?” Kaitlyn asked.

“It’s too chaotic here; I need to take Anthony somewhere safe so I can heal him.” I said. “I’ll keep him safe, I promise.” Kaitlyn looked me in the eyes before nodding her approval. “Let’s go Mrs. O’Leary!”

            The friendly Hellhound barked before breaking out into a run. She ran as fast as she could without actually Shadow Traveling, running around monsters and jumping over Roman soldiers. She stopped at a large outcropping of rocks, away from the worst of the fighting. I slid off her back and carried Anthony to the ground.

I took the Magatama back out. “Is that going to heal me?” he asked, staring at the red jewels.

“Yeah, it’s one of its powers.” I said as I held it over his broken leg. “This might feel weird.”

            Anthony nodded and watched. The Magatama were glowing brighter now. The light flowed to his leg, mending the bone and sealing the flesh. Once the light died down, Anthony’s leg was completely healed. He flexed it a bit before he stood up and put weight in it.

“It’s as good as new!” he said happily. He smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug. “Thank you.”

“No problem buddy.” I said hugging him back. Beneath smell of dirt, blood, sweat and all-out war, he kinda smelled like peppermint.

Mrs. O’Leary barked with her ears pricked up. “What is it girl?” I asked after letting go of Anthony.

“Tsuna!” I turned and saw Hazel coming towards us, and Arion running a bit too fast.

“What’s wrong?” I asked when she and Arion came to a stop.

“It’s Percy.” she said. “He’s taking on Polybotes all by himself.”

“Did you really think he wouldn’t?” I asked.

“It’s not that Tsuna, he has Percy trapped, we need to get to him now!” she exclaimed.

“What?! Why didn’t you say so?!” I asked. I hopped up to Mrs. O’Leary’s back. I held out my hand to Anthony. “Come on.” He nodded and gripped my hand so I could pull him up. As soon as he got situated he wrapped his arms around my waist so he wouldn’t fall off. “Let’s go girl!”

            Mrs. O’Leary followed behind Arion, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. On the ride I saw how pretty much the entire monster army was either piles of dust or were smart and decided to run away. All the other Roman soldiers were in ranks and running in the same direction as we were, towards the main camp it looked like.

            When we all arrived Percy and Polybotes were fighting on the edge of the camp. Percy kept yelling at someone called Terminus to do something and help. I asked Anthony who Terminus is, and he explained that he was the God of Borders and that he protects Camp Jupiter. I guess that would explain every time Polybotes swung his trident it would bounce off some invisible barrier. Water was soon splashing on his feet, probably from that broken aqueduct. Hopefully it would Percy a boost, but I don’t like that way it turned into green sludge when it came into contact with Polybotes. Soon everyone came to a stop and formed a ring around Percy and Polybotes and watched the battle, with the Romans slaying any of those snake things that came close.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are we not going to help him?”

“Percy has to fight that monster by himself.” A voice to my left said. It was Reyna, watching the scene intensely from her Pegasus.

“Why?!” I demanded. “We have a literal army behind us, let’s take that damn thing down!”

“We can’t interfere, Percy has to prove himself to the Legion.” explained Reyna.

Polybotes roared. “I will take you prisoner, Percy Jackson!” he snarled. “I will torture you under the sea! Every day the water will heal you, and every day I will bring you closer to death!!”

I gritted my teeth and let out a grunt of frustration. “Yeah, fuck that!” I jumped to my feet and stood on Mrs. O’Leary’s back. “Mrs. O’Leary, watch Anthony. I’ll be back soon.”

I jumped off Mrs. O’Leary’s back and ran to Percy. “Tsuna!!” Hazel and Frank yelled.

“Don’t go!” Anthony cried.

            As you can tell, I didn’t go back. I had a Kelp Head to save after all. I jumped over any of those snake things that I came across and basically played hop scotch to avoid any of those green slime puddles. They were toxic green, bubbling and steaming, so it was probably best to avoid them. The Giant’s back was facing towards me, and it was about to swipe at Percy with its trident again, only this time it was covered in that green gunk.

            Since Polybotes was standing in a small lake of the green stuff, I didn’t have a good way to do anything. But to my left I saw a broken fountain spouting out some clean water. I smiled, getting an idea. I felt a pulling in my gut and willed the water to me. It flowed around my feet and pushed me off the ground a few inches. And using my control over the water I made it act like a surfboard (honestly, I can’t think of a better analogy) and I floated on top of the ooze.

            I felt so freaking cool right now, like you wouldn’t believe. I maneuvered the water so it took me straight for Polybotes. I extended Riptide out and slashed at the giant’s Achilles Heel…the tendons, not the fatal flaw stuff. The injury caused Polybotes to fall to his knees, supporting himself with his trident.

I slid next to Percy and got into a fighting stance. “What the hell are you doing here?!” Percy asked.

“The better question is why is Polybotes still alive?” I asked annoyingly. “Have you even hit him?”

“Oh I’m sorry!” Percy said sarcastically. “I’m not used to wielding a freaking katana!”

“Hey I picked up using Riptide fairly easy, so that’s not an excuse baka!” I yelled. We were glaring at each other, and it was like there was lighting sparking between us.

“Oh so I’m an idiot?!”

“No, your head is just full of Kelp!”

“Oh will you two shut up!!” Percy and I looked at Polybotes, who was starting to stand up.

“Oh great, you’re up already.” I said in a droll.

Polybotes stood to his full height. “So you are the Shinto demigod. My mother has told me quite a lot about you.”

“She’s a stalker, good to know.” I said. The giant smirked.

“I can see why Gaea decided you were trouble enough to warn me of you, after Alcyoneus fell.” he said. “Even slaying that overgrown Hydra, the Orochi, that can’t have been easy. But you’re just an over grown sea slug, relying on the powers of your Faded gods to succeed.”

“Trust me; I don’t need their powers to finish you off.” I said. “I’m strong enough on my own.”

“You can think that all you want demigod, but remember, you had to rely on the power of your gods to restore Jackson’s memories.” he said. “You have no power yourself, son of the Shinto sea god!”

“My father’s name is Susanoo!” I screamed as I ran at the giant.

“Tsuna!” Percy called out. “*tsk* Damn it!”

            As Percy ran after me Polybotes slammed his trident into the ground. I jumped out of the way before kicking off the ground to get as much force behind me to ram Riptide in the giant’s arm. Polybotes roared, but before he could grab me with his free hand I twisted Riptide in his arm and pulled it out rather violently.

“Why you little-!” Polybotes slapped his hand on the wound right when I pulled Riptide out. “You’re little gods aren’t here to protect you brat!”

“He doesn’t need the Shinto gods to protect him! I’m here!” Percy said. He waved his arm and a torrent of water slammed into Polybotes’s face.

“The Kusanagi’s on loan for a reason Percy!” I yelled. “Use it!”

“I’ve been trying, it’s not like he’s making it easy!” was Percy’s excuse.

“You _can’t_ kill me!” Polybotes spat out water, which turned into the toxic gunk. “There are no gods to help you here, so nothing you can do can stop me!”

“Oh trust me; there are a few gods around.” I said.

Polybotes leaned down and grabbed a handful of the green goop. “I doubt that.”

            He lobbed the stuff at me, only for Percy to tackle me out of the way. The goop started steaming as soon as it hit the ground. What is that stuff, acid? Percy got back to his feet and screamed. He ran at Polybotes and attacked relentlessly. Polybotes tried his hardest to keep up with Percy, but because of his sheer size Percy was able to cut him. And unlike the wounds I made with Riptide these wounds weren’t healing.

“So I was right.” I said.

“Get away from me!” Polybotes screamed, kicking Percy away from him. He rolled on the ground, some pieces of rock cutting him shallowly.

“Percy!” I yelled, running to help him up.

“Little brats.” Polybotes said. “How many times do you have to be told?! You can’t kill me!” I wonder if he noticed that his wounds weren’t healing.

“See, I knew the Kusanagi would work.” I said in Percy’s ear.

“So what do you want, a freaking medal?” he snapped back.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Polybotes said. There we go. Now he noticed. “Why are these scratched not healing?”

“Can you stand?” I asked. Percy stood up without my help.

“I’ve been through worse.” He said. “Do you have a plan?”

“He’s too experienced for us to handle by ourselves.” I said. “We’ll need to distract him so you can land the finishing blow.”

“What do you have in mind?” Percy asked. “Another dragon?”

“Something on a bit smaller scale.” I said. I reached underneath my shirt and pulled the Yata no Kagami out.

“I won’t be fooled by another illusion boy!” screamed Polybotes. “Nothing you create will be able to stop me!”

“Good thing I’m not going to stop you.” I said, the Mirror shining in silver light again. “Just distract you.”

            I tossed the Mirror in the air, where its light shined all over the camp. Before the light cleared the Mirror fell back into my hands. When the light did clear, a lot of people were rubbing their eyes. Polybotes had his eyes closed tight and shook his head rather hard.

“What was that supposed to do?” he asked. “Make me see spots!”

“Not exactly.” I said, and my voiced echoed.

“What?” Polybotes opened his eyes and his pupils were blown wide. “Wha-what is this?!”

            All around the three of us were numerous copies of Percy and I. They were all glaring at Polybotes. Some of the me’s were smirking. A lot of the Percy’s were frowning. But all of us were ready for battle.

“Is this supposed to impress me?!” Polybotes said. “A few pathetic illusions won’t help you!’”

“We’ll see about that!” I said.

            I raised my arm high above my head and snapped my fingers. All of the illusionary copies of the two us screamed and ran for Polybotes. There were so many of them, that Polybotes didn’t know what to do. He swung his trident wildly, which made a few of the illusions disappear. Percy and I coordinated with the remaining illusions to get closer to Polybotes. We weaved ourselves in between the illusions, and with all the chaos going on I was positive that Polybotes couldn’t tell who was the real us.

            Polybotes grunted and threw his net. I jumped back as it covered a descent amount of the illusions. He was taking a lot of the illusions out. After he swung his trident on the ground and taking out a few more illusions I willed another torrent of water to slam into Polybotes. Percy went in and sliced at Polybotes’s thigh, leaving a big gash. The giant roared and smacked Percy away.

“Percy!” I yelled.

“Don’t think I have forgotten about you!” screamed Polybotes. He punched the ground and pulled up a large rock that he tossed at me.

“Oh shit!” I said as I jumped out of the way at the last second. By the time I got back on my feet Polybotes reached down and grabbed me.

“Tsuna!” Percy yelled.

Polybotes squeezed a little, enough for it to hurt. “Argh!”

“Ah, there we go.” Polybotes laughed. “No more illusions.” I opened my eyes and saw that all the illusionary Percys and mes’ were gone.

“Put him down!” Percy said.

“Or what?” asked Polybotes. “What can you do Jackson, now that I have interloper in my grasp?” Percy gritted his teeth, but slowly lowered the Kusanagi. “That’s right Jackson, just give up. It’s your Fatal Flaw. You will always sacrifice yourself for those you care about.”

“Percy, don—ARGH!” Polybotes squeezed me tighter.

“Silence!” Polybotes said. “You have no right to even be here, let alone speak! You Shinto pest! You should have minded your own business!”

“Leave him alone!” Percy yelled. He looked toward the ground. “I’ll do what you want.”

“Good.” said Polybotes. “Good. Gaea will be pleased. She has plans for you demigod, ideas that will make what I have in store for you seem like Elysium.”

“No.” I said. “No, no, NO!” I could feel my anger rising. The Mirror and the Jewels started glowing brightly, the light shining through the cracks in the giant’s fingers.

“Wha-what’s happening?!” the giant asked. I let out a scream and from within me this pulse of energy, my magic, exploded out. Polybotes’s hand was blasted apart, and I fell to the ground. As he clutched his hand, which was healing, but a lot slower than usual, Percy ran over to me.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’ll live.” I said. “Let’s finish this now!”

“What was that?!” demanded Polybotes, his hand mostly healed. “What in the world was that?!

            I nodded at Percy, signaling him to go. He broke out into a run, which angered the giant. He roared and spun his trident in his hand so the three points were aimed at Percy. As Polybotes started to ram the trident I made a yanking motion with my hand. With my emotions running high I was able to use my magic to pull Polybotes’s leg out from under him.

            As the giant tried to correct himself Percy vaulted onto the giant’s knee and plunged the Kusanagi into Polybotes’s stomach. Polybotes let out a strangled sound, but he wasn’t going to give up with a stab to the stomach. He tried to reach for Percy, but using some more magic I slammed the giant onto his back.

“You’ll _never_ win!” groaned the giant. “You cannot defeat me alone!”

“I’m not alone, Poly-Butts.” Percy pulled my sword out of the giant’s stomach and walked up to its chest. “You see this?” he asked, waving the sword around. “This is the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. It is the most powerful weapon of the Shinto Pantheon. And it contains the essence of a god. And I’d like to introduce you. Meet Tsuna’s father, Susanoo, Shinto god of the seas and storms!”

“NOOO!” screamed Polybotes, only to gurgle momentarily after Percy had thrust the Kusanagi hilt-deep into the heart of the giant. He burst into a steaming pile of seaweed, reptile skin, and that disgusting green muck.

            Percy staggered back, looking completely exhausted. Not that I can blame him. I feel like I could sleep for week, after eating a whole buffet that is. For a moment, the entire battlefield was silent, save for the heavy breathing and a few monsters screaming in panic as they run away. Percy looked back at me and gave me a thumbs up. I gave him a double thumbs up in return. I looked around and saw Hazel and Frank smiling with pride. Tyson was waving excitedly with Ella on his shoulder. Mrs. O’Leary was panting while Anthony scratched her behind the ear. Anthony looked at me and gave me a smile that showed me that he was relieved that I was okay.

            The next thing I know there were a whole series of cheers from all the Romans around us. They all ran to Percy, cheering excitedly. Some of them clapped me on the shoulder as they went to congratulate my brother.

“Percy! Percy! Percy! Percy!” they cheered. All the Romans mobbed him before they put him on a shield and lifted him up. And then their cheers changed. “Praetor! Praetor! Praetor!”

             Even that Reyna girl was cheering. She flew her Pegasus over to Percy and clasped his hand in congratulation. They started to carry Percy towards the Camp and the others began to follow. I started follow them myself, only something bad happened.

            I was surrounded. A whole group of buff Roman soldiers were pointing their disturbingly sharp spears at me. Percy noticed and tried to get down from his little ride. The Romans started to enclose on me, so I put my hands up to show I wasn’t going to do anything.

“Good job soldiers.” I turned and saw Octavian, that little weasel. “Now, arrest that boy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	14. Tsuna

            This sucks. This sucks so freaking much. And totally unfair. What did I do to deserve this? Right now I’m sitting in some dusty old jail cell, on some uncomfortable bench, which I was told by the two guards right outside the door was also my bed. I moved a little bit, trying to get more comfortable and just listened to the clinking of the iron chained cuffs on my wrists.

            Other than the fact I was sitting in jail for doing nothing (from my point of view) I was missing out on the Feast of Fortuna. Which I was surprised wasn’t about tuna fish. I could hear the whoops and hollers and cheers from here, and it was making me jealous. I can’t believe that there’s a party going on and I’m rotting in jail. My stomach growl loudly. I placed my hand on my belly and shuddered at the hunger pang. Man I’m starving. Letting out a groan I laid on my back and closed my eyes. Ignoring the smell of the food that was wafting in I thought about what put me in this… predicament.

            We had just defeated Polybotes. Every single Roman and Amazon was cheering in victory. The Romans rushed over to Percy and lifted him onto a shield. They kept chanting ‘Percy!’ over and over again before they switched it over to saying ‘Praetor!’ Frank had told me earlier in the battle that Reyna was the leader of the Roman camp, called a Praetor.

            I was proud of Percy. He’s so damn likable that it’s hard to not to like him in some form or another. In no time Percy has wormed his way into the graces of the Romans and impressed them enough to elect him as a leader. I was clapping and hollering with the Romans. But as I was going to I was suddenly surrounded, spears pointed at my face.

“Good job soldiers.” I turned and saw that little weasel-looking Octavian walking towards me, with such a noticeable swagger to his step. “Now arrest that boy!”

            Two soldiers rushed me from behind and grabbed my wrists. They twisted my arms so Riptide fell from my hand and ripped my backpack from my back before they tied rope around my wrists. And then to be even bigger jerks they kicked me in the back of the knee and forced me to the ground. Yatagarasu shrieked and flew down to help me, only for Octavian to order some archers to fire upon my friend.

“Stay away Yata!” I yelled. “Please! I don’t want you to get hurt.” Yatagarasu cawed, but did what I wanted and flew up, out of the range of the arrows. He still circled the area, keeping an eye on me.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Percy yelled as he ran over.

“I am handling this spy.” Octavian said.

“I’m not a spy!” I said.

“Really?” asked Octavian. “I heard what Polybotes said, you all did! This boy is a son of a Shinto god, an enemy of Rome.”

“What has my family ever done to the Romans?” I asked. “I’d be surprised if you Romans made it as far east as China, let alone Japan.”

“Your ‘ _family_ ’ is an opposing power to Rome.” said Octavian. “We already are at war with Gaea and her giants. We already have a _Graceus_ in our midst. We don’t need to have a Shinto demigod here as well.”

“I helped you all fight this battle!” I said.

“He fought alongside all of you since he got here.” Percy said, getting right in Octavian’s face. “You have no right to treat him like this.”

“And how do we know he isn’t a double agent?” Octavian countered. “Maybe he is working for the Earth Mother to get close so he can betray us.”

“Tsuna would never do that!” Percy said.

“He’s been fighting by our sides since we met him!” spoke up Frank.

“He has helped us defeat Alcyoneus, fight monsters, saved us ever since he joined us in Seattle.” Hazel said. “We trust him with our lives!”

“See?!” Percy asked. “He’s not a spy!”

“So _you_ say Jackson, but we cannot take the chance by letting him run about.” Octavian said smugly. He snapped his fingers. “Kill him!”

“No!” yelled Percy. The two soldiers who were holding me down pulled out their sword and put them at my throat. “As you’re new Praetor I _order_ you to stand down!” The edges of the blades were just barely pressing against my neck, where I can feel the pressure on my skin. “Release him **_NOW_**!”

The soldiers hesitated for a second before they went to untie me. “Belay that order.” Octavian said. “Are you really going to take orders from that Graceus? Do you really think we can trust him?”

“Percy just proved himself to the entire Legion.” Hazel said. “He was chosen by the Legion as our new Praetor. If we can trust anyone, it would be him.”

Octavian looked like he knew he was losing this battle. “Maybe, but we know even less of the Shinto demigod than we do of Jackson.”

“I know more than enough about him Octavian.” Percy said.

“And how is that?” asked the blonde weasel. “Miss Levesque said that you all met in Seattle.”

“He’s my brother you ass.” Percy said. With the way Octavian smiled I think Percy let that bit of news out at the wrong time.

“Oh is he now?” Octavian asked. “And how is that? No offense, but how can you two be brothers if he’s Japanese?”

“Racist prick.” I muttered.

“Well if you want the bare bones of it he was adopted by my mom.” Percy explained.

“But how can you be sure?” asked Octavian. “The Shinto demigod—”

“Don’t you fucking dare talk about me like I’m not here.” I said.

“The Shinto demigod,” Octavian continued, “Has used powers like we haven’t seen before. I assume that the dragon that suddenly appeared was his creation, yes? How do we know that he doesn’t have some more…surprises hidden inside him? Like the ability to alter memories?”

“I can’t alter memories, that’s beyond me.” At this point anyway, but that part was more of an internal thought. “And even if I did, I would never do that to Percy, or Hazel or Frank. They’re my friends.”

“And how are we supposed to believe you?” Octavian asked. “Even if our new Praetor and those two Centurions vouch for you, how exactly will we know if they’re not being controlled by you.”

“ **BECAUSE I CAN”T CONTROL PEOPLE**!” I screamed my throat raw.

“See how defensive he gets?!” Octavian said. “If the accusations were not true, then why would he be so adamant in defending his claims?”

“Because he didn’t do anything!” Percy said. But it wasn’t helping. The Romans were murmuring amongst themselves, and from what I could make out they were agreeing with the sickly blonde over there.

            Octavian was now staring right at me, and it was creepy. He sauntered his way over, clearly in love with himself and his own self-given superiority. When he stood in front of me he had the soldiers hold me in a position so that I was ramrod straight. He stared at me, I glared at him. That’s when his eyes traveled down my face and to my chest, where the Sacred Regalia were hanging around my neck.

“I’m guessing that these are the source of your power.” he said. The look in his eyes, it’s like when Voldemort got the Elder Wand. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. “In the name of Rome and Lord Jupiter, King of Olympus, I relieve you of your source of power.”

            Yeah right, in the name of Rome my ass. Jeez, this guy is as power hungry as the others have said. He wriggled his fingers in a way that would make Master Xehanort jealous as he reached for the Sacred Regalia.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.” I warned.

Octavian smirked. “Why is that?”

“Well for one,” I said, shrugging my shoulders, “You’re an ass. Second, you’re not…worthy.”

“We’ll see.” said Octavian with a sneer before reaching to grab the Sacred Regalia, completely ignoring my warning.

            He didn’t come close to touching them. When his hand was about a foot away the Treasures began to glow brightly. The red and silver lights blasted out in a violent aura that made Octavian back off. Even the guards loosened their grip on me out of the shock.

“Well would you look at that.” I said smugly. “My Aunt and Uncle don’t seem to like you.”

“Fine.” Octavian said through grit teeth. “If your little necklace can’t be taken, then we can always take off your head.”

“If you so much as touch him Octavian I swear I’ll bury you so deep Hades won’t be able to find you.” threatened Percy.

“Why are you so desperate to keep him alive Jackson?” asked Octavian.

“Because he’s my brother, and I won’t let him die!” Percy said.

“Even _if_ that’s true, that means your judgment is impaired, and therefore your orders are null and void.” Octavian said.

Percy let out a breath before looking at the other leader of the Romans. “Reyna, please, help me.” he begged. “Tsuna doesn’t deserve this. What would you do if you were in my position?”

            Reyna just stared at both Percy and I. Her face was emotionless, her stare was ice cold. This entire time she must have been analyzing the whole situation. Her sister, Queen Hylla of the Amazons, stood by her side. Her face looked a bit softer, like she knew what Percy and I were going through.

“Reyna, it’s bad enough that you let a _Graceus_ be elected as a Praetor.” Octavian said. “But if we spare this spy—”

“He is not a spy!” Percy said.

Octavian rolled his eyes. “If we spare this _potential_ spy, I’ll have to start questioning your role as leader.”

            Oh my gods. The look Reyna gave this weasel scared the shit out of me, and it wasn’t even directed in my direction. Octavian shuddered, but other than that seemed unfazed. After she scared pretty much everyone, she looked between Percy and Octavian, her eyes darting about. She was probably thinking about the pros and cons of siding with either of them. Then her eyes landed on me. Her stare made me a bit uncomfortable.

“Enough blood has been spilt on this day.” she said. “No more will be shed, by anyone. Until a proper decision is made, this Shinto demigod will be imprisoned.”

“Wait, Reyna, you can’t—” Percy started, only to be shut down when with another of Reyna’s glares. Even I got shivers down my spine.

“Praetor Jackson, until we have come to a decision, for the safety of _everyone_ , your brother will be imprisoned.” said Reyna. “But until then, he can’t be allowed to have that necklace.”

“Well they can’t just be taken from him.” Percy pointed out. “He was chosen by the Shinto gods to be the protector and wielder of their Sacred Regalia.”

“Percy.” I said. “You can keep them safe for me.”

“What?” he asked.

“If there’s anyone who I can trust to protect my birth right, it’s you.” I said. “You were there, by my side, when I got them. I’d say you are the only other worthy one here. Besides, you used the Kusanagi, remember?”

“Right.” he said. “Is it alright for you Reyna if I took the Treasures? I wouldn’t want to seem like I’m gaining too much power over you.”

Reyna studied Percy for a moment. “It should be fine. Are you even able to access any of their powers?”

“Nope.” said Percy. “I don’t really care about using them either. No offence Tsuna, but it’s not my thing.”

“None taken.”

“Then very well.” said Reyna. “You can take these Regalia from Tsuna. Any objections Octavian?”

Said weasel was frowning with his arms crossed. “No…Praetor.”

“Then we are in agreement, for now.” Reyna said. “Percy, if you will.”

Percy nodded and walked over to me.  “I’m sorry Tsuna.”

“You come nowhere near the blame.” I said as he lifted the Regalia from my head. “Just…keep them close, please?”

“I will, I promise.” He said as he put the Sacred Regalia around his neck. After that the Kusanagi went into its ring form and he put that on his right middle finger. “Not my style, is it?”

“Not really.” I smiled. “Don’t forget Riptide, I kinda dropped it because…well, you know.”

“Thanks dude.” He picked up Riptide and capped it, turning it back to a pen.

“And…can you do one more thing?” I asked.

“Yeah, anything.” he said.

“Can you watch over Yatagarasu?” I asked. “He’s not going to handle this well. And…well, you know how he is.”

“Yeah, I do.” said Percy. “I’ll keep an eye out for him. But I doubt he’ll listen to me.”

“He barely listens to me.” I said. “He’s likes to do his own thing, as long as he watches over me like Ojīchan asked him to.”

“I’ll do my best.” he promised.

“Now that this has been dealt with, let us go back to New Rome and celebrate our great victory!” Reyna yelled.

            All the Romans and Amazons cheered. They all started to march towards the small city. Frank, Hazel, Tyson, and Ella went with the Legion, looking back at me with concerned looks. Anthony, the son of Ceres that I protected earlier, still sat a top Mrs. O’Leary, looking upset. At least he’s on my side. Percy watched as the guards picked me up and put me on my feet.

“Treat him nicely guys.” Percy said when he thought that they were being a bit too rough.

“Yes sir.” they said.

            They grabbed me by my arms and led me in the opposite direction of the city. I heard Mrs. O’Leary whining so I looked back to see her trying to follow me. If it wasn’t for Percy she probably would have followed me and sit right outside the cell door. Percy and Anthony were trying to soothe her. Once she calmed down Percy threw my backpack over his shoulder and led her in the direction the Legion went. Percy yelled for Yatagarasu and talked to him as the legendary bird flew beside him. It clearly squawked before he perched himself on Percy’s outstretched arms. Before we got too far from each other Percy looked back and gave me a sorrowful look.

I couldn’t hear what he said, but I know what he mouthed. “ _I’m sorry_.”

            A loud clunking sound broke me out of my thoughts. Opening my eyes and sitting up I looked through the cell bars and saw that it was none other than Hazel. She was talking to the guards and handing them a note, but I wasn’t really paying attention. What I noticed was what was in her hands. It was a tray of food, and it smelled so amazing.

“Hi Tsuna.” Hazel said, snapping me out of my hunger daze. “I brought you some food.”

            She put the tray on the bench in between us. It looked amazing. A slightly charred steak (that looked like it had the most amazing marbling), some seasoned steak fries that looked better than Red Robins’ (Yummm) and some cooked asparagus. Quite a meal. My mouth was watering so much I was afraid to open it; otherwise there’d be a puddle on the floor.

“Thanks so much Hazel.” I said, grabbing the fork and knife and began cutting into the succulent meat. “I’m starving.” I should a piece of meat in my mouth and moaned.

Hazel giggled. “Well, you haven’t eaten since early this morning.” We sat in silence; the only real noise was of me shoveling food in my mouth. “Oh, I forgot this.” She pulled out a small chalice. “It’s enchanted. Just think of what you’d want to drink and it’ll appear in the cup.”

“We have these at Camp Half-Blood.” I said. I grabbed the cup and it filled with iced tea. Once I was done eating I put the plate on the floor and rubbed my stomach contently.

“Tsuna…” Hazel said, wringing her hands together nervously. “I’m sorry that you’re stuck in here. It’s not fair.”

“I know, but it’s not like it’s your fault.” I said.

“I should have fought more for you.” she said. “Frank’s upset that he didn’t do more too.”

“Like I said, it’s not your fault.” I explained. “It’s Octavian’s. I see what you guys were talking about. He’s the epitome of the term power hungry.”

“But you should be with us enjoying the Feast, not locked in a cell!” she yelled.

“Trust me Hazel, being wrongly locked up is not the worst thing that’s happened to me.” I said.

“But—”

“Can we talk about something more positive?” I asked. “I’m flattered that you care Hazel, but tell me about the Feat. What’s it like? It sounds like everybody’s having a great time.”

Hazel sighed. “Fine Tsuna.” she said. “The Feast has been fun, I guess. Percy, Frank, me, Tyson, Ella, your bird, even Mrs. O’Leary aren’t enjoying it as much as we should, since you’re not there.”

“They should though; you guys deserve to celebrate after the past several days.” I said.

“So do you Tsuna.” said Hazel. “It’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.” I said. “A lot of very powerful people have taught me that. But, other than you guys not enjoying it to the fullest, what’s it like?” Hazel was silent.  I nudged her with my elbow. “C’mon, let me enjoy the party vicariously through you.”

She giggled again. “Alright Tsuna. The Forum, where we eat our meals, has both the Roman and Amazon banners hanging from the rafters. It’s amazing to see the two of us working together, acting friendly with one another. The eagle standard you and Percy recovered? That’s hanging above the Praetor table. The entire Legion is so proud to have it back.”

“I got that feeling when Percy used it in the battle.” I said.

“When it was lost so was a lot of our moral.” Hazel said. “At the Feast we have cornucopias, little magic horns that spill out amazing fruits and fresh baked cookies.” I groaned in jealousy. “Don’t worry, I brought you a few. I hope you like chocolate chip.”

“Love it.” I said, taking the napkin wrapped cookies from Hazel. I split one in half and gave her some.

“Thank you.” Hazel said. Between bites she continued talking about the Feast. “Everybody was going around, talking to people that they usually never come in contact with. People kept dragging Percy around, and he was a good sport about it the entire time. He spent a little bit of time with that son of Ceres that you helped. I don’t really know what they were talking about, but Percy spent the most time with him at the Feast compared to the others.”

“That’s nice.” I smiled.

“Oh, you won’t believe this, but this Amazon that helped me get to Percy and Frank back in Seattle, do you remember that?” she started.

“Uh, yeah, she sounds familiar.” I said. “I would need to see her face.”

“Well, her name is Kinzie.” Hazel said. “I saw her talking to Percy, telling him about what happened with Queen Hylla and Otrera. Well, she won twice, and Hylla is now known as Hylla Twice-Kill.”

“…” I didn’t know what to say for a second. “Is…is that what I couldn’t believe?”

“Oh no, sorry.” Hazel said. “I got carried away a little bit. No, what happened is that Kinzie was flirting with Percy. I even caught her telling him that he’d look good in an iron collar and an orange jumpsuit.”

I burst out laughing until my sides hurt, the chains bounding my wrists bouncing with every laugh. “Oh my gods, Annabeth is not going to be happy when she finds out.”

“Percy’s face turned red before he stuttered out a ‘thanks’ before he changed seats.” Hazel said.

“What happened next?” I asked.

“Reyna gave a speech.” she said. “She formally welcomed the Amazons and thanked them for helping beat Polybotes’ army. She even said that it was thanks to Percy that we were all together today.”

“He does kinda does deserve it.” I said. “As do you and Frank.”

“You deserve it too Tsuna.” Hazel said.

“Hmm. Anything else happened?” I asked.

“Percy said that he wasn’t the best choice for being Praetor, but the Legion disagreed.” she explained. “They applauded him, whistling and cheering him. Reyna then took away his _probatio_ tablet away from him.”

“His what?” I asked.

“That’s right; you’re not from Camp Jupiter. I forgot, sorry.” she said. “It’s basically a sign to so show others that this new Legionnaire hasn’t proved himself yet.”

“Yeah, Percy probably proved himself several times over since he first arrived here.” I said.

“You’re right. That’s why he was finally inducted fully into the Legion.” said Hazel. “After Octavian said that this following year is supposed to have good omens, as Fortuna blessed us.”

“Cool, though anything Octavian does annoys me.” I said.

“I understand what you mean Tsuna.” Hazel said. “Speaking of Octavian, he’s been trying to get Reyna to see his side of things. He keeps whispering in her ear telling all about how he did a private reading of what the gods have to say about you. Reyna doesn’t trust Octavian to begin with, but if he gets enough people on his side Reyna will have no choice but to agree.”

“Octavian is such a sickly little rat.” I said.

“He is.” agreed Hazel. “But fortunately when he wasn’t being pulled around Percy was doing everything he could to convince Reyna about you. He had been working on her since before the Feast began.”

I smiled. “Could you tell Percy thanks for me?”

“I will, promise.”

“Hazel, your time’s up.” said one of the guards.

“Already?” she asked. The guarded nodded. “I’m sorry Tsuna.” I shook my head.

“It’s alright.” I said. “I’m just glad that you were able to come visit me at all.” I stood up and tried to give her a hug, which was kinda hard with the iron shackles. She smiled and pulled me into a hug herself. “Thanks for the food Hazel.”

“You’re welcome.” she said. She looked around the cell. “I wish you didn’t have to sleep here Tsuna. You deserve so much better.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I said. “I’ll deal with it. Wish I had a pillow or something.”

Hazel gave me a small smile and kissed my cheek. “Good night Tsuna.”

“Good night Hazel.” I said.

            The guards opened the cell door and led Hazel out. After she waved good bye I walked back to the bench and sat down. I’m honestly shocked that she can be so happy right now. Yes we just had a major victory against Gaea, but at what cost? Her brother, my best friend, Nico has been captured. How can she so calm and happy? I’m worried sick about him. It’s not like just _anything_ can capture him. Nico is one of the most powerful demigods in the world. He has to be in the East, probably in Rome.

            I really miss Nico. I mean, I’m insanely worried about him. But I miss him more than I am worried. I want to see him again, alive and well. We were-are insanely close, as least, I like to think we are. I mean, he was the one that kept me tethered to the living world after I sacrificed myself to save him and Percy. And I’ll be the one to save him, when I get to Rome. And when I do, I’m never going to let him go again.

            A couple of hours later and I was starting to doze off on the bench. Even the guards are napping. And then all of a sudden the main door was opened. I jumped out of the sudden noise and was surprised to see Percy, Reyna, and that rat Octavian walking in. Octavian didn’t look happy, which I was starting to think was good news, but when I looked at my brother he didn’t look happy either, In fact, he looked upset, not angry like Octavian, but upset nonetheless.

“You two, leave us.” Reyna said to the guards.

“Yes Praetor.” they said, marching out of the door. The three high ranking officers of Roman Legion walked forward. Percy adjusted a backpack on his shoulder to a more comfortable position.

“Tsuna Noble.” Reyna said. “After much deliberation with our new Praetor and the Legion’s Augur, I have been convinced that your life can not just be ended. You won’t die today.”

“’Kay…that’s good news.” I said. “But I have a feeling that there’s bad news.”

“You won’t die today, but there will be a trial to determine your fate.” said Reyna.

“Wait, really?” I asked.

“I’m sorry Tsuna.” Percy said. “It was the best I could do.” He glanced to his left, where Octavian stood.

“I understand Perce, I don’t blame you. The blame lies on someone else.” I said. I looked back to Reyna. “When is the trial?”

“Tomorrow, at nine in the morning.” Reyna said. “Tomorrow you will be taken to the baths to clean up before the trial. It might be wise to make yourself presentable before the Senate. Who knows, it might help your case.” I nodded. “Glad you understand. Sleep well Tsuna. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night Reyna.” I said. I glared at the Augur. “Octavian.” I tried being civil, but I doubt I’ll ever really be _nice_ to the guy.

            Reyna and Octavian left, leaving only me and Percy. He looked so upset about the situation. I mean, I bet I would be too if the situations were reversed. But gods, I don’t like seeing Percy like this. He’s supposed to be the happy, sarcastic guy I first met.

“Wow.” I said. “A trial that gets to decide if I live or die. Doesn’t this sound familiar?”

“Tsuna, I’m so sorry.” he said, gripping the cell bars tight enough to make his knuckles go white. “This was the best I could do. If it wasn’t for Reyna, Octavian was going to make sure you had a public execution and sacrifice you to the gods so the war against Gaea goes in his favor. I wanted to beat him senseless. I don’t know who he thinks he is, but—”

“Percy, calm down.” I said, grabbing his hand. “Everything will be okay, I promise.” Percy took a deep breath and gave me a smile.

He reached through the bars and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Just…just don’t do anything that will put you on anybody’s bad side, okay?”

“I think you’re confusing me with yourself.” I laughed.

Percy chuckled. “Shut up.” he said smiling. He looked back at the door. “I should get going, before Octavian throws another fit.” He grabbed the backpack and pulled it to his front. Wait a minute, that’s _my_ backpack. “I brought your things.” He passed the backpack through the bars and handed it to me. Inside was a pillow and a small blanket, as well as some new clothes. “I figured you’d want to be able to sleep tonight. And Reyna was right that you should look good for the trial tomorrow, so that’s why there’s the clothes. And…” Percy reached underneath his shirt and pulled out my spell book. “I took this from it earlier. Octavian demanded to look through your bag to see if you snuck anything dangerous in.”

“More like if I brought something for him to gain more power for himself.” I said as I grabbed the book.

“He already doesn’t like you for being a Shinto demigod.” Percy said. “I’d hate to see what he could do with that book and about your teacher.”

“He’s try to burn Storybrooke to the ground.” I said. “Good luck with that.”

“Y’know, I flipped through that book, but I couldn’t understand a word of it. What language is it?” he asked.

“Uh, I think Rumpelstiltskin said it’s half Elvish, or something.” I said as I buried the book deep in the bag.

“Elvish?” asked Percy. “As in, Lord of the Rings?”

“I don’t know.” I said with a shrug. “I’ve never been to the Enchanted Forest.” I let out a yawn.

“You should get some sleep man.” Percy said. “You haven’t been sleeping that well lately.”

“No shit.” I said. “But you’re right. And you should leave before Octavian starts running his mouth again.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” he said. He held his hand out so I grabbed it and squeezed tight. “Night man.”

“Night Perce.” I said. He turned and went to the door. He was halfway through the door when I called out to him. “Hey Kelp Head!” He stopped and turned back to me. “Love you.”

Percy chuckled and shook his head. “You too man, you too.”

            Once Percy left, I was all alone. Not something that I like. Letting out a sigh I went back to the bench and pulled out the pillow and the blanket. I fluffed the pillow before lying down. It had quieted down outside, so the Feast must be over. The light of the moon and the stars shined through the bared window. With another yawn I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep.

            Not long after I fell asleep I started dreaming. And I know I was dreaming because I was standing in Hell. Okay, I don’t know if it was big H Hell or what, but it looked like all interpretations of the Christian Hell. The ground was made of black sand that with each step I took crunched. Looking closer at the sand I saw that it was like glass. Let’s hope I don’t trip and fall in this stuff.

            I walked on, trying to make sense of where I was. Even if this was the Christian Hell, why would I be here? I assumed I would be sent the Yomi if I died, or, if I had a choice, Elysium. At least I’d be able to see everybody that I care about down there, since they can actually go down to the Underworld. Who knows?

            When I hiked over a hill I saw a field of things popping out of the ground. The ground would bulge up and up, until it looked like it was going through a bad case of acne. And then these zits would pop, and out of them monsters would jump out covered in golden goo…gross. One of the monsters was a chimera. Another was a Gryphon. A series of Cyclopes and harpies popped out of the ground.

            It was really disgusting. I did not need to see how monsters came into the world. And since there were Greek monsters popping out of the ground, I’m going to go ahead and say this was the Underworld. Well, the literal ‘Hell’ part of the Underworld-Tartarus. At least, it fits the descriptions of the place I’ve been told about.

            I really didn’t want to deal with any beastie right now, so I took a step back. Bad decision, let me tell you. I slipped and fell, sliding down the hill. I couldn’t feel the sand cut into me, so it wasn’t one of _those_ kind of dreams. But I don’t remember this hill being as tall as it is now when I climbed it originally. And the scary part of it was that at the bottom of this giant hill was a pitch black hole. I screamed as I fell into the hole. The next thing I knew I was laying on the black sand. Getting to my hands and knees I shook my head. Gods I hate these kinds of dreams.

“Get away from me!”

            That got my attention. I jumped to my feet and ran in the direction I thought the voice was. I started to think I was going the wrong way but I started hearing grunts, groans and a lot of shrieking. I ran around a huge rock that was in my way, only to come to a complete stop with what I saw.

            It…it was Nico. He was fighting against a herd of Lamia, the donkey legged, flaming hair vampires. Nico slashed one in half before doing a back stab to another. He was thinning the herd down really quickly, not that I should be surprised. He’s amazing and naturally talented.

            But he didn’t look good. His was breathing heavily, and his breathing sounded bad, like the worst case of Bronchitis ever. His movements looked like they were slowing down. That didn’t stop him. He took down another five Lamia before he started coughing. He coughed and coughed again, each one sounding worse than the last. The Lamia thought that a coughing fit would stop Nico, but oh boy, were they dead wrong. With his free hand still covering his mouth he took down the final three Lamia.

Nico had another coughing fit, this one brining him to his knees. “Nico!”

            I ran over to him to help my friend. His coughing got worse, to the point he was hacking up wads of blood. And that’s not the worst of it. His skin looked a lot paler than usual, and it had this sickly green tint to it. I could clearly see his veins. Then there were the multitude of blisters all over his skin, popping and spreading blood all over his body. What parts of his skin that weren’t covered in blood and blisters was drenched in sweat and leftover monster dust. His clothes were ripped and torn. He even had a bad looking gash on his side.

“Nico, it’s alright, I’m here.” I said, reaching out for him. I tried to brush his bangs out of his eyes, only for my hands to phase through. Nico crumpled to the ground. “No! Nico! Come on, you have to get up! Your sister needs you! I need you!”

            If by some miracle Nico slowly lifted himself to his knees, and it looked like he was in so much pain. It broke my heart, seeing him like this and being able to do anything to help. Once Nico was on his feet he held his side with one arm and his sword out ready for another fight as he walked onward.

“I’ll stay with you Nico. Don’t worry.” I said as I walked by his side.

            With each step Nico shuddered in pain. With each breath he would cough up blood. More blisters formed on his skin before bursting, spreading more blood on his skin. It hurt to look at him like this. I don’t understand how Tartarus could be affecting him like this. One time his legs gave out beneath him, and I tried to catch him, only for him to phase right through my arms like I wasn’t really there.

“Dammit.” Nico spat. He got back to his feet and continued walking.

“I’m sorry Nico.” I said. “I’m so sorry I can’t help you. I wish I could.”

            Unable to hear me he kept walking. But as he walked his steps became slower and his breathing became worse and worse. It’s as if Tartarus is sucking away Nico’s life energy. Nico almost fell over again, but he caught himself. We both turned towards the direction of a series of yells. Nico quickened his pace, and I followed him so I could watch over him, although I can’t help him no matter how much I want to.

            Following Nico we went over another hill. From the top I could see a long river that was glowing red. While that alone is terrifying, the monster cries from behind us were even more so. Nico broke out into a run, or the best he could in his condition, towards the river. He ran to the edge of the river, where I was able to see that it wasn’t some magical red glowing water, but a literal river of fire, something I’m sure Hell would have plenty of.

“Phlegethon…” Nico said with his voice so hoarse. He fell to his knees and reached for the flames.

“Wait Nico, don’t—!”

            He plunged his hands into the fire. I thought he was crazy. His hand would have melted in that river. But he pulled his hands out, with pure fire cupped in his hands. He wasn’t even injured by the fire. Nico looked at it for a second before putting it up to his mouth and drinking the liquid fire. Before I could even say anything he started shaking and gagging.

“Nico spit it out!” I yelled. “Spit it out!”

            I don’t know why I bothered, since he hasn’t been able to hear me since I found him. He swallowed the flames, and right before my eyes the blisters on his skin got smaller until they were completely healed. He even had more of his natural pale complexion back. But he didn’t look completely healed, just a lot better.

“Oh thank the gods, you’re alright.” I said.

He was still breathing heavily. “Heh, so it does heal people.” chuckled Nico. The monster cries were getting closer, and Nico looked over his shoulder at the source. “I’m sorry Hazel. I don’t think I’m going to make it.” The monsters were getting closer now, I can actually see them. “And I’m sorry Tsuna, I should have brought you to Camp Jupiter when I thought Percy would show up there. I hope you find him soon.”

Nico fell to the side, completely passed out. “Nico! Wake up, please wake up!” I tried shaking him awake, but my hands went through him. “No, please, you have to wake up!”

            It was too late. A whole horde of monster arrived, and they looked bad. The one that led the charge was a lion like creature with a man’s face that had a scorpion tail with a morning star mace as a stinger, a Manticore. Following behind it were more cyclopes and Lamia, as well as a small battalion of the Scythian Dracaena.

“Well what do you know?” the Manticore said. “The son of Hades. I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’m going to enjoy eating your flesh.” He nudged Nico with his paw.

“Don’t touch him!” I yelled, only to not be heard.

“Although, I wish you were awake.” said the Manticore. “I would have enjoyed the exercise.” He made his way over to Nico.

I ran in between Nico and the Manticore. “Stay away from him you freak!” The Manticore walked right through me like I was a ghost.

The Manticore sniffed Nico before baring his fangs. “The flesh of the son of Hades. You’re going to be delectable.”

“NO!” I screamed. I tried punching and kicking the Manticore, only for my attempts to stop him to only go through him. Why? Why can’t I do anything to save Nico?

“ _Leave the boy_.” What the _Hell_ was that?

“B-But master—” the Manticore started.

“ _The boy is to live…for now._ ” the voice, that felt ancient and sounded masculine, said. It echoed all over this desolate place. “ _Gaea has plans for him. Plans for the Seven who follow those foolish Olympians. Bring him to the Doors, as he is. Is that understood?_ ”

“Yes, my Lord.” said the Manticore, although he looked pissed about the situation. He grabbed Nico and threw him onto his back. My best didn’t even make a noise.

            I fell to my knees and just watched as the monster horde walk away. I couldn’t do anything. Not a single thing to save Nico. The one person that I…that I…

“ _There is a reason why I showed you this, interloper._ ” This voice…it sounded as old as the one that echoed throughout Tartarus but it sounded more feminine. And I recognized who it was.

“Gaea.” I frowned. “Why?”

“ _To give you some incentive._ ” she said. “ _Stay out of my way. The Seven will make their way to Rome and fail in their Quest to stop me. You will stay where you are, and if you do as I say, I’ll spare the son of Hades for you. And then I’ll give you both quick deaths, far less painful than what I have planned for Jackson._ ”

“Nice offer, Earth Mother.” I said. “But I’ll have to refuse.”

“ _You do know that you won’t get a better a deal than that._ ” said Gaea. “ _Even if you don’t die tomorrow, you won’t be accepted by the Romans. You won’t be accepted by the Greeks when they discover your heritage, which you’ve kept hidden from all but a few you think you are close to. And you won’t ever be truly accepted by the ones you love, by the_ one _you love._ ”

I was quiet for a moment, processing everything she said. “You might be right Gaea, but you know what? You can’t control fate. You can’t control _my_ future. I know for a fact there are powers in this world far greater than you, and they are on my side. This is my story, and you’re not a part of it.”

“ _You annoying little parasite_!” She yelled, causing Tartarus to shake and move like waves. I must have struck a chord. “ _I may not know who you think you know, but there is no being more powerful than I_! _I am the very world you walk on_! _There is no being in a_ ny _pantheon that is more powerful than me_!”

“So you think in your pride.” I said. “And I beg to differ about that last part. As much as I would _love_ to tell you who I know, I like the idea of me knowing something you don’t.”

Gaea chuckled, shaking the ground. “ _You’re bluffing_. _You’re just trying to make yourself look more important, but that won’t save you. Go ahead. Join the Seven on their pointless Quest to stop my children from toppling the thrones of the Olympians. You’re assistance won’t change anything in the end. And let me assure you, Tsunayoshi Noble, son of Susanoo._ ” The hellish landscape of Tartarus started to swirl around, the river of fire igniting the black sand until I was in the center of an infernal tornado. “ _You will suffer greatly by my own hand, and I will take immense pleasure in wiping your pantheon off the face of Creation._ ”

            The flames started to get closer. Tendrils of the fires of Perdition shot out at me. I ducked out the way, jumped over another. The strange thing is- I couldn’t feel the heat. If Gaea was trying to scare me with this dream, you’d think she’d be sure to have me feel the flames. When I ducked down again, I noticed that my hands were glowing ocean blue.

I took a deep breath, thinking if this was a dream, than anything goes. “You know what Gaea?” I asked, standing up straight. “Give me your best shot.”

“ _Oh, trust me Noble, I wi—_ ”

            I waved my arm. A blue pulse erupted from my body. At the same time from where I was standing frost and ice spread out, covering the ground and quickly climbing up this flaming twister. The flames were frozen solid, making beautiful patterns and shapes

“Hello?” I yelled. “Anybody there?” No response. “Finally got her out of my head.” I walked to the newly formed ice wall and pressed my hand to it. “Nico, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I know you can’t hear me, but I will find you. I will always find you.”

            All of a sudden the now frozen tornado started shaking. Large chunks of ice started breaking off. The tornado started cracking. It broke apart and began to fall on me. Before a huge block fell on me everything went dark. And when I opened my eyes, I realized I was being shaken awake.

“Tsuna, it’s time to wake up.” a calm voice said. I looked to my side and saw a strawberry blond woman with a pony tail stooping over me. She looked familiar…

“Uh, Kaitlyn, right?”

She nodded. “I was tasked by Reyna to escort you for your trial.”

“Oh.” I said. “Thank you.” Standing at the bars was a burly Hawaiian with tan skin and muscular arms. I shook my head, because I couldn’t stop looking at him. “Who’s he?”

“His name is Mike Kahale, a son of Venus.” Kaitlyn said. “He’s from the First Cohort. He’s here under orders from Octavian.”

“So he works for Octavian?” I asked.

“He does, but he’s loyal to the Legion first and foremost, so don’t judge him to harshly.” she explained. I nodded. “Come on, we need to get you to the baths first. It might help if you give a good first impression to the Senate.”

“That’s what Reyna said last night.” I said. I stood off the bench and stretched my bound arms up over my head, enjoying the feeling. “Okay, let’s go.” I walked out of the cell, following Mike. “Oh hey Kaitlyn, could you grab my backpack? It has some clean clothes in it for me.”

“No problem.” he said.

            Walking out of the small prison I looked around. No one was really out yet, not that I can blame them. It’s still pretty early. Kaitlyn and Mike led me out of the Camp and towards the small city of New Rome. Even from where we stood outside of it I could see almost a perfect blend of Ancient Roman design and modern day amenities.

“Look at that, a prisoner of war!” I had to do a double take.

“Did…did that statue just talk?” I asked.

“Tsuna, this is Terminus.” Kaitlyn explained. “He’s a minor god, and he protects the boundaries of New Rome from threats.”

“Where was he during the battle?” I asked. “Certainly he could’ve helped beat a few monsters.”

“I was protecting this city! Protecting Rome!” the statue said. Its shoulders moved weirdly, like he was flailing his non-existent arms. “Not that I should lower myself to talking to an enemy of Rome.”

“Rrriiiiight.” I said. I turned to Kaitlyn. “Can we go now?”

“No, not till I inspect you!” Terminus’s eyes went wide. “Feel that?! That’s me patting you down!”

I looked back and forth between the bust and my two guards. “Is this really happening right now?”

“Hmm…” Terminus hummed. “Do you have any weapons boy?”

“I’m a demigod, we’re pretty much born to be weapons.” I said. “But if you’re talking about my sword, Percy has it.”

“Wait a minute, those items belong to you?!” demanded Terminus. “Do you know why I couldn’t confiscate them from him!”

“Probably because the gods within them are far stronger than you.” I said. “Scratch that, there’s no probably about it. They are more powerful than you.”

“You impudent little—” Terminus started but I walked passed his before he finished. “Hey! Get back here!”

“I’m impressed Noble, nobody just walks away from Terminus.” Mike said.

“I tend not to deal with bullshit.” I said. “Now can you please lead me to these baths? I’d like to freshen up a bit.”

Kaitlyn nodded. “They’re this way.”

            Kaitlyn led the way to the baths. It was still fairly early, so there were only a few people out and about, getting ready for the day. Some were just out for a morning jog while others were getting some shops ready. I could smell freshly brewed coffee and pastries in the air, and it smelled like heaven.

            We stopped outside a white building with columns. For all I know this could’ve been the Senate building. Kaitlyn opened the doors and I could already feel warm moist air. I was led in and taken to the back of the building. There was some beautiful paintings on the ceiling and the floor was this most amazing mosaic pattern.    They led me to the back, where upon opening a door revealed a private bath. From a prisoner standpoint, it makes sense to keep someone in my position in a secure location.

Kaitlyn placed my back pack against the wall. “There’s some soap and shampoo in the basket over there. Over there is a towel rack. Um, that’s pretty much it.” She walked over and started to unlock the iron cuffs. “I got you up a little early just so you can take your time.”

“Thanks Kaitlyn.” I said, rubbing my wrists. They were a little red from wearing them all night, but the bath will heal them.

            I stretched my arms over my head and let out a yawn. Despite the pillow and blanket Percy gave me last night, that bench was not comfortable. And then there was that dream Gaea gave me. That didn’t give me any rest at all. I reached over my head and grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled up. When my shirt was scrunched at my arms I felt like I was being alone. I turned my head and saw both Kaitlyn and Mike still in here with me. Granted they were looking away with their cheeks blushing, but they were still in here.

My face started burning with embarrassment too. “Uh…You know you can leave me alone for a few minutes, right?”

“Sorry.” Mike said, trying not to look in my direction. “But we have orders from Octavian not to let you out of our sight until the trial.”

“Is he afraid I’ll escape through the pipes?” I asked. “I can’t shapeshift like Frank. If I did I would have escaped from that jail cell hours ago.” The two of them were quiet. “Come on, what’ll it hurt? Besides, I’m not getting undressed until you two leave.”

“Hey Mike,” Kaitlyn said. “I’m going to get a coffee. Just wait outside the door for him. I’ll be back in a few. Want anything?”

“Drip with Coconut Milk.” Mike said.

“Cool.” Kaitlyn said. “You want anything?”

“Yes please.” I said. “White chocolate peppermint Mocha please. And if there’s any banana bread, that too please.”

“Sure thing.” she said.

“Signal us when you’re finished, alright?” Mike asked.

“Will do.” I said.

            Once she and Mike left the room I took off my shirt. I scratched my chest, where the scar of where I stabbed myself was. I toed off my shoes and took off the rest of my clothes. They were splattered in dirt, had a lot of holes and at this point of no use to me. Might as well toss them, since Percy got me new clothes.

            After testing the water with my foot I slid into the bath. It was nice and warm and felt absolutely amazing. Not as great as the onsen back in Japan, but amazing none-the-less. I leaned over the edge of the bath, just soaking in the water. After relaxing for a few minutes I grabbed a soap bar and started scrubbing. After putting shampoo in my hair I walked deeper into the bath so I could go under.

            Once I resurfaced I decided to float on my back. Being alone in the water gave me time to think. I had to go through another trial to see if I live or if I die. Even if I live through this, I still have to go with Percy and the rest of these Seven that Gaea talked about if I want to save Nico and keep an eye on Kelp Head.

            Thinking of Nico reminded me of the dream. There’s a reason why Gaea showed me how Nico got captured. Is she trying to break my spirit, showing me that not even Nico succeeded in whatever he was doing? Does she think she can control me knowing how much I care about Nico?

            Gaea already thinks I’m more of an annoyance than a real threat. Maybe she just is so full of herself that she can’t even go near the idea of me having any real power. Or maybe she honestly thinks that the heir of the Shinto pantheon can’t do anything to help the Greeks and Romans defeat her.

            Either way, no matter what she thinks I will do everything in my power to help Percy and save Nico from the Earth Mother’s clutches. And I do have tricks up my sleeves that she shouldn’t expect coming. Unless she actually has a brain and puts two and two together to figure out that the ice I made in the dream is magic from another world. Granted, that was a dream so I could do anything there, but maybe one day I’ll be able to do that level of magic here in the real world.

            Putting those thoughts to the side I just decided to lie there in the water. My hair floated around the water, and for the first time I actually noticed how long it has gotten. I’m going to have to get it cut sooner or later, for today I’ll need to figure something else out. I closed my eyes and tried to quiet my mind. The water calmed down too. There weren’t any little waves lapping at the edges of the bath. I almost fell asleep again, if it wasn’t for the knock on the door.

“Tsuna, are you alright?” That was Kaitlyn.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” I said, sitting up so my feet were touching the base of the bath. “Just finishing up actually.”

“Okay, just knock when you’re dressed.”

“Got it.”

            I walked over to the edge and pulled myself out of the bath. The water dripped off my body and onto the floor as I made my way for my backpack. I willed myself dry when I opened the bag and pulled out the clean clothes. I pulled out the clean pair of underwear and dark jeans and put them on. After buttoning the jeans, which felt just tight enough, I pulled out the shirt. It was a dark purple with the words ‘Camp Jupiter’ and ‘SPQR’ written in gold. Not really my colors, maybe if it was solid Decepticon purple, but otherwise, I didn’t care for it.

I blew out a breath and slipped it on. “Okay, I’m dressed.” I slammed my fist on the door.

Kaitlyn and Mike opened the door and walked in. “Wow, you clean up nice.” Kaitlyn said, two coffee cups in her hand.

“Thanks.” I said.

“Put your hand out Tsuna.” Mike said, holding the iron manacles.

“Do we really have to do that?” I asked.

“Sorry, it’s—”

“Octavian’s orders, yeah, I got that.” I said. I brushed some of my hair out of my face. “Before my hands are tied, Kaitlyn, do you have a spare hair tie?”

“Uh…um…” She put the coffees on the ground and reached into her pockets. After she reached into her back pocket she pulled out a black hair tie. “You’re in luck.”

“Thanks.” I said. I bit the hair tie and started to pull my hair back. After putting the tie in place I felt better. Most of my hair was out of my face in a loose pony tail, with a few strands framing my face. Kinda like Chris Hemsworth, now that I think about it.

“You’re hair looks good like that.” said Mike. Okay, why is my face so warm? Oh right, he’s a son of Aphrodi-I mean, Venus. They naturally have this effect on people.

            I nodded my thanks. Realizing that they were still waiting I raised my arms and let them cuff me again. Kaitlyn then handed me my coffee, which was still really warm, thank God and a napkin wrapped slice of banana bread. It was kinda awkward to eat my breakfast with my hands tied like this, but I made due.

            There was a bit more people out in the streets now. People were going in and out of coffee shops. There was a florist watering all the pots of flowers and other plants outside her shop. On the corner of the street was a small café were people and families were eating a nice breakfast while enjoying the morning sun. The sun felt warm on my face, and it was really refreshing. Now I prefer the cold, but this warmth felt nice.

            Kaitlyn and Mike led me into a more open field. From here I can see the Senate House at the top of the hill. How do I know that’s the Senate House you ask? It looks a lot like the building in Washington D.C.  Terminus must have done his job well, since it looked like New Rome was untouched by the battle. The grass was so green and looked so inviting to just lay in the field and soak up the sun. A bird flew over and I hopped it was Yatagarasu, but I couldn’t tell from here. I hope he’s okay.

            All of a sudden there was a loud scream. It sounded like it belonged to a little girl. We looked around, trying to find the source of the scream. Mike saw first and pointed to our left. A little girl with pigtail was running from a rouge Hellhound. How did that get in here? Maybe Terminus wasn’t doing his job after all. Maybe Gaea snuck it in, who know.

“Julia!!” Kaitlyn yelled. She drew her sword, as did Mike, and ran to help the little girl.

“Stay here!” Mike ordered me.

“I want to help!” I yelled.

“Just stay here!” he yelled again. “We’ll save Julia.”

            Damn it. I hate not being able to help. The little girl, Julia, ran passed Kaitlyn and Mike. The Hellhound howled and snarled, jumping back with each swipe of their swords. Despite their best efforts Kaitlyn and Mike were just mere distractions to the Hellhound. It was big, almost as large of Mrs. O’Leary. It looked more demonic than her as well.

            Mike ran right at the Hellhound from the side, only to be slapped aside. Kaitlyn screamed and slashed the Hellhound from the side. The Hellhound roared and bit at her. Kaitlyn, luckily, rolled out of the way at the last second. The Hellhound turned towards Julia, who stood frozen with fear.

“God dammit kid.” I said. I ran to Julia. The Hellhound bounded at her. I barely made it in time, but I was able to grab her and roll her out of the way at the last second. “Hey, are you alright?” Julia was shaking too much, eyes wide with fear. “Listen, it’ll be alright, you’re going to be alright. Just stay behind me, okay?”

            I stood up and pushed Julia behind me. She clutched my shirt tightly. The Hellhound roared again. Okay, where’s the Calvary? With all this noise that thing’s making there should be at least someone coming to help. Hell, if Terminus was doing job he, as a _god_ , minor or not, should be able to, I don’t know, sense this thing within his ring of protection.

“You get one warning.” I told the monster. “Leave, now.” Its red eyes bored into me.

            The Hellhound booked it towards us. Mike and Kaitlyn were screaming, telling me to take Julia and run. But I stood there, watching the Hellhound get closer and closer. I flexed my hands, trying to focus. I don’t have my sword or any of the Treasures. Yatagarasu must be with Percy, so he can’t help. So that only leaves me with my magic, and you all know how that’s been working lately.

            The Hellhound jumped into the air to pounce and kill the two of us. I focused on my emotions and waved my hand. I expected to release a pulse again, which is basically the only thing that I’ve been able to do lately with magic, but it didn’t happen. What did happen was a puff of smoke enveloped the Hellhound. It whined like a kicked dog before it went quiet and fell to the ground. When the smoke cleared, there was a black stuffed dog toy lying in the dirt. It was kinda cute.

I picked it up and brushed the dirt off. “There, not so scary now, is it?”

            I handed the plushy to Julia, who gingerly took it. She looked at it for a second before giving me a smile so large I could see two new front teeth forming. She hugged me tightly and said ‘Thank you!’ over and over again.

“How-how did you do that?” Mike asked.

“Oh, um…ancient Japanese secret?” I said. No need to bring up magic to the Romans, especially since I’m going on trial soon. “It’s a Shinto thing.”

“But if you can turn a Hellhound into a toy, then why did you just let yourself get arrested?” asked Mike.

“Because you Romans don’t trust me as it is.” I said. “At least, a decent chunk of you don’t, especially after Octavian opened his big mouth.”

“Well either way, thank you for saving Julia.” Kaitlyn said. “I’m afraid to think what would have happened to her if you actually listened to Mike’s orders.”

Julia tugged on my shirt to get my attention. “Yeah?” I leaned down and she gave me a big hug around my neck before running towards where Terminus was placed. “Cute kid.”

            From there Kaitlyn and Mike led me up the hill to the Senate House. After the climb up Mike went inside to see if the Senate was ready. Kaitlyn straightened out my clothes and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear. She gave the advice to speak only when spoken to and be as respectful as possible to the Senate.

“They’ll be looking for anything they can to condemn you.” she said. “Whatever you do, don’t do anything to make them think you’re against Rome, or worse, sided with Gaea.”

“Jeez, you sound just like Percy.” I said.

“Then our new Praetor is smarter than he looks.” Kaitlyn said. “Just be careful.”

“I will.” I said. “I do have some self-control, unlike my brother.”

Kaitlyn pulled me into a hug. “Good luck Tsuna. May the gods look favorably upon you.”

“Thanks.” I said.

Mike walked out and nodded at me. “Kaitlyn, Tsuna. It’s time.”

            They took hold of my arms and stood up straight. They then led me to large oak doors that opened on their own. I was taken to the center of a large circular room and stood at a podium. I was then chained to the podium so I couldn’t…escape, I guess? Don’t know why I would escape. I can’t just up and leave Percy here.

            Once Kaitlyn and Mike backed off I looked around the room. Sitting on elevated stands were people in different colored togas. Some were wearing red, others white, pink, green, so on and so forth. I could just make out some golden pins stuck on the togas, like hammers or spears. Maybe this told people who was related to specific gods. Off to the side was Tyson, Ella, Frank and Hazel, and Mrs. O’Leary of all creatures. I’m surprised she was even let in. They all looked worried, but their smiles and waves helped ease me a bit. In front of me were two thrones. Yatagarasu flew in from the open ceiling and perched himself on the throne to my left.

            The Senators were talking amongst themselves. They must be murmuring about either me, the battle yesterday, or the victory party from last night. It was kind of boring, just standing there waiting for this asinine trial to get over and done with. After yawning quite loudly I noticed a few of the Senators just staring at me, eyes boring into my soul, it felt like. Maybe they were just trying to size me up and see if I was as bad as that moron Octavian says I am.

            All of a sudden there was a loud creaking sound coming from the back. From behind the thrones walked out Octavian, looking so smug in his white toga. It made him look as pale as Nico, though unlike Nico it didn’t make him look good. Following Octavian were two dogs that, believe it or not, were made of metal, one gold and the other silver.

            The dogs snarled at me once they sat in front of one of the thrones. After the dogs sat both Reyna and Percy entered the room. Reyna looked as regal and authoritative as she usually does. Percy, on the other hand, looked different. He was holding himself up higher, and he just looked more confident. Maybe it was his outfit. Underneath a dark purple toga clasped with a gold pendant he was wearing a light blue shirt that brought out his eyes. Or maybe it was a side effect of wearing the Three Sacred Regalia. The necklace dangled from Percy’s neck and my ring that becomes the Kusanagi shined on his right ring finger.

“Wow.” I said. I heard a caw, so I looked up and saw Yatagarasu perched on the edge of the hole in the ceiling. At least he’s safe from Octavian’s witch hunt. Yata flapped his wings and flew down to perch himself above Percy on the throne.

Reyna waved her arm. “Good morning Senators of Rome.” she said. “Thank you for coming to this emergency session. Today, we discuss Tsunayoshi Noble, a Shinto demigod, and his fate.” Reyna sat back in her throne and straightened her posture. “Let us begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated.


	15. Tsuna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is everyone, the finale of Brothers of the Sea, my Son of Neptune adaptation. I hope all of you have enjoyed what you've read, and I hope you like this final chapter.

             This is not going to be fun. Percy, despite his obvious efforts to look calm, was failing. His eyes were screaming with worry. What happened between now and when we saw each other last night? Although, glancing at Octavian’s smug face, with his smirk, he probably had something planned against me. So I tried to lighten the mood.

I let out a wolf whistle. “Looking good Perce! Man, if I were a girl—” Percy was flailing to make a ‘shut up’ motion. “I’d…I’d…never mind.” Reyna cleared her throat.

“Tsunayoshi Noble,” started Reyna. Gods I hate it when people use my full name. “You are charged with the accusation of being an enemy of Rome and an ally of Gaea. How do you plea?”

I darted my eyes between Reyna and Percy. “You serious?” Reyna narrowed her eyes. “Oh, uh…not guilty.”

“And why is that?” she asked.

“Because… I didn’t do anything wrong.” I explained. “You all, well, some of you,” I glared at Octavian. “Are just being racist.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Reyna said. “But I assure you, that is not the reason you are on trial.”

“Okay, then why am I here?” I asked, clanking the chains to make a point.

“Excuse me Praetor,” Octavian said. “May I be allowed to speak?”

Reyna darted her eyes to the side where Octavian stood. “I’ll allow it.”

“Reyna, you—” Percy started, only to be silenced with another look from Reyna.

“Go on Octavian.” said Reyna.

“Thank you Praetor.” Octavian said with his smirk even wider. He spread his arms wide out to the entire room. “Senators, since the end of the Feast of Fortuna I have been communing with the gods. I have read their words from the animal sacrifices.”

“Animal sacrifices?” I said. “Percy told me you rip apart stuffed toys. Don’t think your readings are that accurate.”

Reyna glared and raised her hand at me. “Go on.” she said towards Octavian.

“Thank you.” he said. “As I was saying. I have read the words of the gods. And they say that this boy is an enemy of Olympus! An enemy of Rome! He is one of Gaea’s secret weapons, destined to destroy Rome in her entirety.” I rolled my eyes and looked back at Percy.

“You know Percy, Annabeth is gonna go crazy when she sees you in that get up.” I said. “I mean, talk about good looking. It makes you look really…authoritative.”

Percy’s face flushed. “Tsuna…”

“See how he makes fun of his situation?” Octavian stated. “He thinks because he is allied with Gaea he has nothing to fear!”

The Senators were talking in hushed tones, siding with Octavian. “Excuse me; even though it clearly sounds like you all are going to side with the blonde rat over there, this is a trial. Don’t I have a right to defend myself?!”

“Reyna, he has a point.” Percy said. Reyna looked at Percy that made him jump. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m trying to remain neutral like you asked, but he deserves to be defended, not just accused by someone who clearly has it out for him.”

“If you would have been patient and waited a few minutes, I would have gladly let him talk.” Reyna said. “Tsuna, I want you to tell the Senate about yourself. Tell them in your own words why you are on the side of Olympus, and not Gaea. But I warn you now, do not lie.” She reached forward and laid her hands on the heads of the metal dogs. “Aurum and Argentum here will know if you lie, and they will attack you if you do.”

“Great, living lie detectors.” I said. I let out a groan. “Man, I really don’t want to tell you guys my origin story. Gods know I’ve repeated it enough times.”

“Tsuna, please.” begged Percy.

“Uh, fine.” I said. “But can I give out the Spark Notes version? I’m really tired of repeating my life’s story.”

“As long as you tell the truth.” Reyna said.

“Thanks.” I said. “I’ll do this for you all. I swear, on the River Styx, that I will tell you nothing but the truth.” There was a clap of thunder that signified that the oath was struck.

“See, now he can’t lie even if he wanted to.” Percy said. Octavian crossed his arms and grimaced, and I felt so happy to see him pouting.

“Go on then.” Reyna said. “Tell us your story.”

I let out an annoyed sigh. “Okay, where to begin? After the war with the Titans my mom and I moved to New York where I met Percy and we became the best of friends. After a few weeks, which included the worst day of my life when my mom passed away, I was attacked by a Japanese demon named Tsuchigumo, a spider demon. It was tasked to kidnap the Umi no Musuko, the son of the sea. As you’d expect, it was confused because of Percy being the son of Poseidon. After it attacked I discovered my heritage as a demigod. From there I led a Quest to Japan with Percy and Nico di Angelo-” There was a gasp at the mention of Nico’s name. “-In order to look for the Three Sacred Regalia that are now being held by my brother there. We met so many wonderful beings, from a silver Kitsune to Otohime, the daughter of the dragon sea god Ryūjin.”

“And then what happened?” asked Reyna.

“I was poisoned, by a creature from the Yomi, the Shinto Underworld.” I said. “I would have died, if it wasn’t for Otohime and Nico saving my life. After that, we faced trials to retrieve the Yasakani no Magatama. A…nature spirit used the Yata no Kagami to make me think he murdered Percy and Nico and made me want to kill myself, after I completed the Quest to honor my two best friends. After defeating him and realizing that Percy and Nico were actually alive, we were captured by minions of the ultimate Shinto evil- the Orochi.” I started breathing heavily. I really didn’t want to relive what happened.

“You were captured by this Orochi, and then what?” asked Octavian. I didn’t answer him. “Well, are you not going to answer?!”

“Lay off him Octavian!” Percy yelled. “You have no idea how hard this is for him! I was there, and I don’t want to remember it either.”

“What are you talking about?” Octavian demanded. “What could be so bad that you can’t tell us?!”

“I died.” I said. “I took the Kusanagi in my hand and killed myself in order to save Nico and Percy’s lives. But doing so broke the seal that kept the Orochi from doing anything from this world.”

“If you died, then how are you here?” Octavian asked. “

“I went to the Yomi, where I met my grandmother Izanami.” I explained. “She tried to coerce me into joining her in the land of the dead, and she succeeded. But I was stopped from crossing over by Nico, and Percy. Yatagarasu there,” I nodded my head to where Yata was perched on the top of Percy’s throne. “Took a phoenix feather to heal my body and restore it to a living state. But my soul couldn’t go back to the living world with just that, as I died. It goes against the Natural Order for this to happen, so the god Ryūjin took my place in the Yomi so I could live and destroy the Orochi.”

“And how did you destroy this monster?” asked Reyna.

“I’ll tell you now that it wasn’t easy.” I said. “I consider it to be the Typhon of the Shinto Pantheon. You guys know of Typhon, right? So anyway, even with the Sacred Regalia’s power unsealed and the combined power of Percy, Nico, and I we barely defeated him. But in the end we were able to strike him down, using our three swords made of three different magical metals. That final blow divided his essence so thin that the gods believe he shouldn’t ever be able to reform again.”

“And then what happened?” one of the Senators asked.

“We went straight for Olympus.” I explained. “We were put on a time limit because Zeus was getting impatient and scared.” Thunder rumbled from above. “I’m not sorry, so deal with it! Anyway, after arriving in Olympus I was put on trial, much like this one, to decide whether I should live or die. It came down to fifty/fifty in the end. But then, Poseidon brought in my father Susanoo into the Throne Room of Olympus.”

“Why would the Lord of the Sea bring an enemy god to the Olympian Throne Room?!” Octavian screeched. “That is a desecration to the Olympians, allowing the filth of another Pantheon to enter those sacred halls!”

“Octavian.” I started. “I’m only going to warn you one time. Call my father, or any member of my pantheon filth or anything like that again, I will end you.” Octavian flinched, but smiled. I think I just proved his point.

“There, you see, he threatens your Augur!” said Octavian. “Me, the one who reads the words of the gods!”

“Someone’s full of themselves.” I said.

“Continue.” ordered Reyna.

“As I was saying, Poseidon brought in my father Susanoo.” I said. “Poseidon was the deciding factor to allow me to live. Zeus wasn’t happy, but he allowed it. After Poseidon sealed my power, Susanoo did the same for the Regalia, before he united with the Kusanagi. A month or so later Percy went missing and I did everything could to find him. It wasn’t until recently that I was able to find him, and I can guess that you all been filled in on the rest of the Quest.”

“Indeed, we have.” Reyna said. “Their reports have said that you have been a great ally to them. They even have stated numerous times that without you they might not have been able to defeat Alcyoneus and free Death. For that, I am grateful.”

“You’re…welcome?”

“Praetor, I have a question for the accused.” said Octavian.

“You’re not going to talk to him and twist his words.” Percy said.

“Silence Percy.” Reyna said. “Go on Octavian, I’ll allow it.”

“Thank you Praetor.” smirked Octavian. “You said that your father sealed the powers of these Sacred Regalia. However, it has been seen that you have used these powers. I was even there when Praetor Jackson told Reyna about how you used that Mirror to ‘restore’ his memories. So tell me, how is it you can use these magical items?”

“For one, they’re my birth right.” I said. “The Sacred Regalia belong to me and me alone as the heir to the Shinto Pantheon. Second, despite their powers being sealed my father made it so that as time goes on, I’ll be able to unlock more and more of their powers.”

“So that means that you’ll just grow more and more power.” Octavian said. “Meaning you will gain enough power to overthrow Rome!”

“I honestly don’t give a damn about Rome.” I said. “I have my own goals, and Rome can just suck it for all I care.”

“See how he disrespects Rome?!” bellowed Octavian. The Senators were starting to yell now. Not even when Frank and Hazel tried to ease the situation did they quiet down.

Reyna stood up and screamed. “Silence!” Everyone in the room shut their mouths. “I am sure that the accused did not mean it like that. Now Tsuna, if you would continue. I want to hear about what your Sacred Regalia can do.”

“Didn’t Percy tell you?” I asked.

“He told me what he could, but I want to hear your words.” she said.

“Fine, but there’s not much to tell.” I said. “I’m still learning how to use the Regalia. But from what I’ve been able to do, the Yasakani no Magatama heals, the Yata no Kagami can create illusions and restore memories. And the Kusanagi…well, I’m not entirely sure. It does enhance my powers, but that’s all I discovered. Other than that it’s the most powerful sword in the Shinto Pantheon.”

“And do you think it’s wise for someone to have all that power?” Octavian asked. “Even on the off chance you don’t have any ill will towards Rome, someone with all your power is a threat, and all threats must be eliminated.”

“Oh yes, I’m quite the threat.” I said. “It’s not like I risked my life to protect Frank when he was melting the chains that had bound Thanatos. It’s not like I helped you all in yesterday’s battle. If it wasn’t for Percy using _my_ sword, than Polybotes wouldn’t have been killed. So don’t you dare say I’m a threat. I didn’t have to help you, but I did anyway.”

“He’s right, he didn’t have to help.” Percy said. “He’s only here because of me. He swore to my mom that he’d bring me home.”

“Just like a Graceus, to ally with enemies of Rome!” screeched Octavian. “They want to destroy Rome after all these countless years, and are willing to do anything to do it!”

“Okay, that’s it, I’ve had enough!” I screamed as I slammed my fists on the podium. I could not just bottle this up anymore. “Octavian, you are an arrogant, self-absorbed brat! You do any and everything to make yourself look superior to others. There’s no wonder why this Senate would vote to have me killed. You’ve been putting me in a bad light all damn morning. Hell, I bet you were whispering in the ears of all the Senators since yesterday! You egg people on just so you can try to make them look like a villain. You are the most pathetic piece of garbage I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I’ve met some real douchebags in my life.”

            It was silent for a little bit. Octavian was seething in anger, his face beet red with rage. I don’t think he’s ever been talked to like that, so it filled me with such immense pleasure to be the first. My hands started to hurt with how hard I was clenching them, so I looked down. I was shocked to see a small bit of frost on the edges of the manacles.

“ _How did that happen_?” I thought.

“Reyna, the Senate has reached a verdict.” said a senator in a red toga.

“And?” asked Reyna.

“We have decided that the Shinto demigod be sentenced to death.”

“What!”

“No!”

“Gods, please don’t!”

“Not brother!”

“Bullshit!” I screamed after Mrs. O’Leary howled. “What did I just say?! If this is a fair trial, then I should get people on my side to defend me!”

“Who will even speak for you?” Octavian said. “After your little outburst, there is no one on your side.”

“More like no one is willing to go against you.” I said.

Percy stood up. “I’ll speak for him.”

“We will too!” Hazel said, standing up herself and bringing Frank up with her since their hands were clasped. Aw, how cute, they’re a couple now.

“Oh, that’s what the accused wants.” Octavian said. “But didn’t you say that your little mirror can cast illusions and ‘restore’ memories? What if you just implanted fake memories into their minds? To make them trust you, all so you can infiltrate and control Rome from the shadows.”

“As much as I hate to say it, Octavian is right.” said Reyna. “Although you might not have done it, there is a possibility that you all could have been tricked into trusting him.”

“But Reyna—” Percy started, only to be cut off when Reyna lifted her hand.

“Enough Percy.” ordered Reyna. “I’m sorry, but the three of you can’t testify for Tsuna.”

“There we have it.” Octavian sneered. “And there’s no one else to speak in your defense.” He started smiling, because he clearly felt like he was going to win.

The door behind me flew open. “Actually Octavian, there are a few people willing to speak up for Tsuna.”

            I turned my head and saw Kaitlyn. With her was Mike, the little girl Julia, and…wait, is that Anthony? He looked so different without all that armor on him. More relaxed, more like a kid his age. He had his gold sword at his side. He looked nervous, being under the scrutinizing eyes of the Senate. Kinda like how I felt when I was on trial for the Olympians.

“And why would we even listen to these people?” Octavian asked.

“Because Augur, these two were saved by Tsuna the last two days.” Kaitlyn said. “He risked his life to protect them. And they will stand up for him to repay him.”

“Is this true?” Reyna asked.

“Yes Praetor.” Anthony said. Her dogs stood still, so he proved he was telling the truth.

“Go on then. Tell us your story.” Reyna said.

Anthony nodded. “It was during the battle yesterday. I was fighting my hardest to uphold the traditions I was taught the past three years. It was complete chaos on the battlefield. I got separated from Kaitlyn and the rest of my Cohort. I don’t know what happened, but I ended up fighting a centaur. It was vicious. And relentless. It eventually broke me down and crushed my leg. I thought I was going to die. It was standing above me, enjoying the moment. But then, a hero came to save me. Tsuna saved my life. He fought with everything he had to keep my safe. Kaitlyn even trusted him enough to take me away and heal me. He’s…my hero.”

            He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and mouthed ‘Thank you.’ For some odd reason his face turned red and he looked away. Before I could ask what was wrong he stepped down from the podium and stood next to Kaitlyn. Julia then jumped up to the Podium, hugging her new plushy.

“Hello Julia.” Percy smiled. “Can you tell us what Tsuna did to help you?”

She nodded wildly. “He made the bad dog into my new toy!” She lifted the black stuffed animal in the air.

The Senators looked at Julia like he was crazy. “Uh, and how did he make the ‘bad dog’ into that?” Octavian asked.

“He ‘poofed’ it!” smiled Julia.

“I’m sorry, he did what?” Octavian demanded. I think I could see a vein throbbing from here.

“Allow me to explain.” Mike said. “While we were escorting Tsuna Julia was attacked by a Hellhound.” There was a loud gasp, and a lot of heads turned towards Mrs. O’Leary. “Uh, not Percy’s pet. This rouge Hellhound was chasing after Julia. Kaitlyn and I tried to stop it, but it just ignored us and continues hunting her down. I don’t know how Tsuna did it, but when he waved his arm at the Hellhound it…it ju…it just…’poofed’!”

“If I hear that word one more time, I swear I’ll—”

“Octavian, shut up!” Reyna ordered. “Mike, can you please explain?”

“I honestly don’t know how.” Mike said. “When the Hellhound pounced it was covered in this smoke, and when it cleared all that was left was Julia’s stuffed animal.” Julia waved the plushy around wildly.

“There’s nothing in Rome with that power.” Octavian said. “It must be a Greek trick.”

“Not even the children of Hecate can do that.” said Percy. “Maybe Hecate herself, but I’m not for sure.”

“Then what is this power?” Reyna asked.

“Ancient Japanese secret.” I said, only to have Reyna’s dogs’ growl. “Shit.”

“You’re lying.” Reyna said. “Tell us the truth, or you will be sentenced to death.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Octavian asked.

“Both.” I said. “I swore to protect this secret with my life, from people like you. I swore on the Styx, and you all know what happens when that oath is broken.”

Everyone was quiet, thinking about what to do. “Reyna, even you can’t make him spill the beans about this. He is entitled to his secrets.” Frank spoke up, only to jump when Reyna _and_ Octavian glared at him.

“What does the Senate say after these testimonies?” Reyna asked.

            The Senators were talking amongst themselves, deliberating on my fate. Percy was sitting as far forward in his new throne as possible. Hazel was holding tight to Frank. Octavian…well, Octavian looked like he already won.

“After these testimonials, the Senate has decided that Tsunayoshi Noble is no threat to Rome or her people, and therefore should be allowed to live.” said a Senator.

“WHAT!!” Octavian screeched.

“Oh thank the gods!” Hazel yelled. Frank let out a breath of relief, and Percy cocked his arm in victory.

“However, in order for us to trust him and keep an eye on him, we have decided that he become a member of the Legion.

“Oh my gods, Deja-vu!” I screamed. “This is just like last time!”

“I thank you Senators, from the depths of my heart, for sparing him.” Percy stood. “But, if I can say something?”

“Of course Percy, you are a Praetor now.” Reyna said.

“Thanks Reyna.” Percy said. “If Tsuna is going to become a member of the Legion, than I say that he deserves to skip over being a Probatio and be a full-fledged Legion member.”

“And why do you say this, _Praetor_?” asked Octavian, his arms crossed in frustration.

“Because if it wasn’t for Tsuna we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near Thanatos.” Percy explained. “He saved both mine and Hazel’s life when we fell into that mud in Alaska. He restored my memories. He fought an army of shades summoned by Alcyoneus while Frank freed Thanatos. He helped bring back the Imperial Gold weapons and fought in yesterday’s battle. Without him we wouldn’t have defeated two Giants.”

“Be it as it may, we can’t accept a _Shinto_ demigod into the Legion.” said Octavian. “A _Graecus_ , maybe, begrudgingly, but a Shinto? Unlikely.”

“But you accept Legacies.” Percy said. “And Tsuna’s a Legacy.”

“What? Explain yourself!” ordered Octavian. I think some of his spit flew on Percy’s face.

“My dad, Poseidon, is Tsuna’s Great Great Grandfather on his mom’s side.” Percy said. “It’s one of the reason’s I consider him my brother.”

            Octavian was absolutely seething. His face was red and he was grinding his teeth. The Senators were talking amongst themselves again; though why bother when they already said to make me a member of their army?

“But...but…” Octavian stuttered. Then he sneered. “Then we will need recommendations. We can’t just throw away our traditions just for him.”

“He has my recommendation.” Percy said. “And they come from Praetor, so that must mean it’s worth more.”

“He has mine too.” Frank said.

“And mine!” yelled Hazel.

“He even has mine, and I’m sure he has Anthony’s as well.” Kaitlyn said.

Octavian was shaking with rage. “Alright, fine. But what Cohort—”

“The Fifth Cohort will claim him!” jumped up the guy who Percy gave the eagle standard to yesterday. Dakota, I think.

“Alright FINE!!” Octavian screamed. “Let this Shinto spawn into the Legion. But I doubt the gods will allow it.”

“Well, if Neptune is anything like Poseidon, I’m sure he’ll love me.” I said. “It’s such an amazing feeling when a god says they’re proud of you. Although, I’m sure you been told that, haven’t you Octavian?” He just glowered at me instead of responding. Tsuna-1, Octavian-0.

“Un-cuff Tsuna Kaitlyn.” Reyna said.

            Kaitlyn hopped up to the podium and unlocked the cuffs. She eyed them for a second when she saw the frost. I just shrugged and looked away. Once the cuffs were off I rubbed my wrists.

“Tsuna, please step forward.” Reyna said. I stepped off the podium and met Octavian on the ground. “Hold out your right arm.” I raised an eye at the order, but did so anyway.

“Tsunayoshi Noble, son of Susanoo, Legacy of Neptune…” Octavian took a breath in. “First year of service.”

            He waved his hand over my arm. All of a sudden it felt like a hot iron was being pressed into my skin. I had to bite the inside of my cheek so hard, to the point where I was almost bleeding, in order not to scream. I didn’t want to give Octavian the satisfaction. Before my eyes I could see red hot images forming on my skin on my right inner forearm. The images grew until Roman symbols formed completely: a trident, the letters SPQR, and a single stripe, all in black like a tattoo.

Octavia gripped my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. “I hope it hurt like hell.” he whispered in my ear. He pulled back and had a smile so freaking fake it made me sick.

“I believe now it is a good time to take a recess.” Reyna said. She stood up and waved her arm. “We’ll reconvene in ten minutes. I’ll see you all then.”

            The senators flooded out of the room. I kept rubbing my new…tattoo. Gods, how am I going to explain this Sally? There was a clap on my shoulder, so I looked up and saw Percy with a wide, toothy smile. Frank and Hazel were standing behind him. Yatagarasu flew down and perched himself on my shoulder, making himself comfortable.

“Congrats man!” Percy said. “Glad you’re not going to die.”

“Really, that’s the first thing you say to me?” I asked.

“Sorry, I’m just so happy.” he said. “I was scared there for a second.”

“Oh, _you_ were scared?” I asked. “I didn’t realize you were the one on trial, again.”

“He’s just relieved.” Hazel said as she gave me a hug. “You were right earlier. Octavian was blackmailing and bribing the Senators all night, but I guess even that isn’t enough for them to know right from wrong.”

“Uh…okay.” I said. I started rubbing my new tattoo, just wishing that I can wipe it off.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Percy asked.

“Nothing, it’s just that I’ve never liked tattoos.” I explained. “Maybe there’s a spell or something to get rid of it.”

“Just ignore it for right now.” Percy said. “I got one too, and it’s not too bad.” He lifted his arm and showed me that he had the exact same tattoo. Frank and Hazel did the same, showing me that they had similar tattoos, but with different symbols that must indicate their godly parent. “Oh, I almost forgot. These belong to you.”

            He lifted my necklace from his neck and put it on around mine. He then took of my ring and gave it to me. Once I put it on the Sacred Regalia started glowing, and unfortunately so did my tattoo. I yelled through grit teeth as the trident part of the tattoo changed. Once it stopped glowing it was different. Instead of a single trident, there was now a katana crossed with the trident like an ‘X’.

“Oh wow!” Hazel said. “That’s actually pretty rare in the Legion.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“The tattoo.” started Hazel. “See, it’s how we identify who’s a child of what god, or who’s descended from specific gods. Each god had their own symbol. Jupiter’s an eagle.”

“And Mars is two crossed spears.” Frank said.

“And Neptune, uh, Poseidon, is the trident.” Percy said, showing me his tattoo. Yeah, Sally is not going to be happy with us when she sees them.

“So why is mine rare?” I asked. “Other than the obvious addition of my father’s symbol.”

“Because it tells us that you’re

related to more than one god.” Hazel explained. “You see it a lot more in legacies that are several generations away from the original demigod. In that time another demigod could marry that legacy, making them related to more than one god.”

“So let me see if I got this straight.” I said. “If Percy and Annabeth were to have kids, then they would be the Legacies of Poseidon and Athena?”

“Yeah, basically.” Frank said. “In their case, it would be a combination of the trident and an owl.”

“That probably would be cool. Although I don’t want my nieces and nephews to have tattoos.” I said. “Man, now I’m just thinking about your future kids Perce. Annabeth’s brains with your powers, now that’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Percy’s face was so red that I swear he was about to spontaneously combust. “Dude! We’re not even married yet, and you’re thinking of my future kids?”

“I can’t wait to see them.” I said. “I’m going to be the fun uncle who’ll spoil them whenever I visit. Now, I wonder what their names will be.”

“DUDE!”

            Frank and Hazel started laughing. Then Percy and I joined in too. When we stopped laughing I wiped a tear from my eye. It felt good to laugh, considering I was about to get sentenced to death.

“Come on.” Percy said. “I need to discuss something with Reyna, and it involves you.”

“O…kay?” I said, not really sure what else could involve.

“Could you guys…you know?” asked Percy.

“Sure thing.” Frank said. “Let’s go Hazel.” He grabbed her hand and led her out of the room.

“So, what’re we doing?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” he said as he took me through a corridor into an office-like room. Inside was Reyna who was drinking from a water bottle. “Reyna, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“Oh, Percy, what’s wrong?” asked Reyna, putting the water down. “Hello Tsuna.” I nodded in her direction.

“I want to make Tsuna my official right hand.” Percy.

I shook my head in disbelief. “What?”                                                                         

“I agree, what are you talking about?” Reyna asked.

“Let’s face the facts, I’m not Praetor material.” Percy said. “I know you guys trust me, but the way you do things is just not my style. But Tsuna’s a lot smarter than me, and give me advice on what to do.”

“Perce…” I said, though I really didn’t know what else to say.

“Percy, what’s the real reason you want Tsuna as your advisor?” asked Reyna, her eyes boring through my brother. Talk about unnerving.

“Gods, I hate the way you do that.” Percy scratched the back of his head. “Okay, fine, that’s not the real reason I want Tsuna to be my right hand. To be honest, I don’t trust Octavian. I still think he had something to do with Gwen’s death when I first got here. I know you feel the same deep down. At least this way, he’ll be protected by association. If anyone hurts him, they’ll have to deal with me.”

Reyna sighed in annoyance and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Percy, in battle you’re an amazing leader and a surprisingly adept strategist. But outside, it’s like your head is empty coral. But…I understand that you just want to protect your brother. I’ll announce Tsuna’s promotion after the Senate reconvenes.”

“Thank you Reyna!” Percy said. “Woo! Come on Tsuna!”

“Uh, coming.” I said, watching him run out the door. I turned back to Reyna, only to have her eyes drill into me. Gods, I would _hate_ to be on her bad side, if this is the way she treats people who have done nothing to her. “Um…thanks, by the way.”

“For what?” Reyna asked.

“Remaining neutral.” I said. “If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve died as soon as Octavian gave the order yesterday. I know I haven’t given you a reason for you to trust me, but thank you for the trial.”

“You do realize that you were about to be sentenced to death, right?” Reyna asked with a raised eye brow.

“But you at least gave me a chance to prove myself, unlike your Augur.” I said. “So, thank you.” I bowed a little to her to show my respect. She nodded her head in return.

“So, are you coming or not?” Percy asked when he reared his head in the door.

“Yeah, on my way.” I said. I waved at Reyna before following Percy outside.

            The sun shined on my face, as if Apollo himself was happy to see me. Well, if Apollo is anything like Will, then he probably likes me. He seemed to like me when we met during the Olympian Council meeting after I killed the Orochi. Besides, the father of Will Solace can’t be all that bad. Although, given Apollo's reputation, I don't know whether to be flattered or worried.

“So how does it feel to be a free man?” Percy asked.

“Just like last time, if I’m being honest.” I said. “Although if I lost this trial my second death would be a lot slower than the one Zeus would have given me.”

“Please don’t talk like that.” begged Percy.

“Sorry.” I said. “I haven’t thanked you, by the way.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Percy said. “You would have done the same thing for me. Heck, you’ve done so much more for me since Hera kidnapped me. And it’s not like I would just stand by and let Octavian get away with trying to kill you.”

“I know Perce, I know.”

            For a few minutes we just stood outside soaking up the sun. We talked about how New Rome has a college that we could attend if we wanted. To be honest, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go to college. I always thought of attending the University of Washington, but after missing nearly a year of school searching for Percy, I don’t know if I’ll ever get in.

“There you two are.” Frank said winded. “We’re about to start the second session.”

“Oh crap!” Percy said. “We can’t be late!”

            We booked it back to the Senate Room. Most of the Senators were filing in. Reyna was already in her throne, her dogs sitting so still that they were complete statues. Octavian was absolutely shocked to see me stand next to Percy’s throne. When he tried to say something Reyna silenced him with a look.

“Welcome back Senators.” Reyna greeted. “First things firsts, I would like to apologize to Tsunayoshi about our mistreatment of him since yesterday. He did not deserve it. Tsuna, I hope you forgive us.”

“Uh, apology accepted.” I said.

“Thank you Tsuna.” Reyna said. “And before we begin, I would like to announce that Tsuna has been asked to become our new Praetor’s right hand and advisor.” There was a series of gasps from the Senators, and (I kid you not) a girlish shriek from Octavian.

“Are you kidding me?!” Octavian screamed. “How could you let this…this…this _thing_ —?”

“And he will hold a rank _equal_ to that of our Augur until further notice.” added Reyna. Oh my, the planets must be aligned because Reyna actually had a smile on her face! Okay, she isn’t as bad as I originally thought if she just did this to spite Octavian.

“Reyna, I have to argue with you on this.” Octavian said. “He’s a Shinto demigod, and Percy’s relation. He could easily bend Percy to his will if he so wanted.”

“To be honest I could probably do it with a new skateboard and a bag of blue candy.” I said. “Percy’s…easy, when you know him as well as I do. But like I said earlier, I don’t really care about-” I waved my hands around. “This. You’re politics bore me, and between you and me Octavian, I find your demeanor that of a pouty child.”

“Well said Tsuna.” Reyna said. “He’s right Octavian. You have been acting like a brat lately.” Octavian opened his mouth, but no comeback came out. I love it when A-holes get what’s coming to them.

“Now, earlier this morning Percy came to me.” Reyna started. “Apparently before we started this session, Percy was contacted from someone from the Greek camp, Camp Half-Blood. Percy, if you would.”

Percy nodded. “As Reyna said, this morning I was delivered a message from Camp Half-Blood. A guy named Leo sent a video message through this.” He pulled out a seemingly ordinary scroll from his toga. “I’m guessing it’s something he and some children of Athena came up with. It’s like a video screen. But that’s not the point. In about an hour, give or take, a large warship is flying our way.”

“A warship!” screamed a senator.

“Another attack?!” yelled another.

“See!” Octavian screeched. “This is just like the Greeks! They send in a warrior who claims to be on our side, only to send in a warship to take us out after out battle yesterday!” I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

“They’re not here to fight!” Percy said. “They’re here to help with the Prophecy of the Seven! To take us to Greece so we can stop the Giants and Gaea once and for all! They just need permission to land here.”

“As if that’ll happen.” Octavian said. “You can’t trust a _Graceus_!”

“Too bad it’s not your call then, is it Octavian?” I said. “You’re not in charge here. Reyna and Percy are.”

“But why should we trust these Greeks?!” said Octavian. “History is has enough proof as to why we should just end them as soon as we see them!”

“Because if it wasn’t for two Greeks—” Percy started.

“Technically a Greek and a Shinto with Greek blood.” I said.

“Whatever.” Percy said. “It was because of us that the Legion’s eagle was brought back, and all the Imperial Gold, which I know you’ve been eyeing.”

“I’ll admit that congratulations are in order for your participation.” Octavian said. “But why should we even tempt fate after all this good fortune? You, Mr. Noble, should know all about Karma or whatever.”

“Did he just—” I started, only to be cut off.

“You know Octavian, I’m glad you asked.” Percy stood.

Octavian stammered. “I wasn’t—”

“—Part of the quest.” Percy said. “I know, I was there. And you’re wise to let me explain, since I was.” Even the Senators started snickering at the way Octavian was being treated today, I love it.

“Gaea is waking.” Percy said. “She’s having her Giants raise her. We’ve only defeated two of them, and that’s only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece.” I don’t like the way the Senate looked now, filled with unease. “I know, I know. You’ve always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there’s a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It _has_ to change if we’re to defeat Gaea. That’s what the Prophecy of the Seven means. Seven demigods, Greek and Romans, will have to close the Doors of Death together.”

“Ha! The last time a praetor tried to interpret the prophecy, it was Michael Varus who lost our eagle in Alaska in the first place!” cried out a ghost in the back stands. “Why should we believe you now?” Octavian smiled, thinking he was getting some ground.

“I carried Juno across the Tiber.” Percy said. “ _She_ told me that the prophecy is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you really think two of your most important gods would appear here at camp if the situation wasn’t dangerous?”

“He’s right.” said a girl from the second row.

“Explain Gwen.” Octavian said.

“Greek or not, Percy restored the honor of the Legion.” Gwen said. “You all saw him on the battlefield yesterday. Would anyone here say he is not a true hero of Rome? Shouldn’t we trust his judgement?”

            The entire Senate was completely quiet. I saw several of them nodding in agreement with Gwen. Reyna stood up, making everyone freeze. Even though she and Percy share the same rank, it’s clear that Reyna has all the real authority here.

“You claim this is a combined quest.” she said. “You claim Juno intends for us to work with this—this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for their deceptions.” Octavian smiled again, and I wanted to punch him in his teeth.

“Maybe so,” Percy said. “But there are times when enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?”

“He’s got a point!” yelled Queen Hylla from off to the side.

“And my friends at Camp Half-Blood have already been working with you guys.” Percy explained. Even I was curious to what he meant. “We just didn’t know it. During the Titan War last summer, while you all were attacking Mount Orthys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. I—” Percy started, only for the words to die in his throat, and I know why. “I fought Kronos myself.”

Reyna nearly tripped over her toga. “You… _what_?”

“I know it’s hard to believe.” Percy said. “But I think I’ve earned your trust by now. I’m on your side. Tsuna, despite the way most of you have been treating him, is on your side. Frank and Hazel. I’m sure they’re meant to come with me on this quest. The other four are on their way here from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor.”

“Oh, come on!” Octavian shouted. “He’s making things up now. Jason Grace, working with the Greeks? Preposterous!”

“It is very hard to believe.” Reyna frowned. “Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they’re going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn’t be worried?”

“Yes Reyna.” Percy said. “Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will back up everything I’m telling you. Hera, I mean, Juno, she switched the two of us for a reason, and I know you all trust her. I swear on my life that you can trust me on this.”

“On your life?” Octavian said. “Well, we will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick.”

“If you so much as look at Percy the wrong way Octavian,” I started. “Then you will know firsthand what it’s like to be from your own stuffed animal collection.”

“Tsuna, please, you’re not helping.” Percy said.

At the same time a messenger burst in. “Praetors! I’m sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—”

“Ship!!” Tyson squealed happily. “Yay!”

            Tyson pointed up at the hole in the ceiling. When I looked up I saw a huge Greek warship appear out of the clouds. It was slowly descending towards the Senate House. There were bronze shields glinting along the sides when the sunlight hit them. The sails were billowing in the wind, and I think…I think the figure head’s a snake or something. I’ll need to get a closer look.

“Praetors!” cried the messenger. “What are your orders?”

Octavian flailed his arms. “What do you think?!” He started strangling the teddy bear that was at his waist. “The omens are _horrible_! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!” He jabbed a finger at Percy. “His _friends_ are attacking in a warship. First he brings a Shinto demigod into our midst, and now a Greek warship is upon us! We must attack!”

“No,” Percy said firmly. “You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren’t enemies. I say we stand ready, but do _not_ attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick,” He let out a breath. “Then I will fight with you, as I did yesterday. But it is _not_ a trick.”

            Reyna looked up and studied the ship. His expression hardened, making her unreadable. If she vetoed Percy’s orders, then I would have to fight alongside them. I don’t want to fight against my friends, but if on the off, very _slim_ , almost impossible chance that this was a sneak attack, I’ll have to. Unless…I could prevent any fighting before it starts, if I use the Mirror to hypnotize them or something. But then I’d be proving Octavian right about me. But it would be worth it if I could prevent any bloodshed.

“Hold your fire.” ordered Reyna. “But have the Legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our…new friends.”

            I watched as the Senators stampeded out of the building. They were all anxious to see what would happen once that ship landed. Tyson ran after them, shouting ‘yay!’ over and over again, and Ella flew after him. Octavian threw Percy a look, before looking at me like I was garbage and followed the crowd.

“I support you, Percy.” Reyna said. “I trust your judgement. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends.”

“We will, you’ll see.” promised Percy.

Reyna looked at me. “And I hope that you know what side you’re on Tsuna.”

“I’m on the side of my friends.” I said. “I just happen to have them in both camps. But I meant what I said Reyna, you can trust me.”

“Thank you.” she nodded before looking up. “You said Jason is that ship, right Percy?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“I hope that’s true.” said Reyna. “I’ve missed him.” She then marched outside, leaving only me, Percy, Frank and Hazel.

“They’re coming down right in the forum.” Frank said nervously. “Oh man, Terminus is going to have a heart attack.”

“Can gods even have heart attacks?” I asked. “That would be implying that some of them even have hearts.” Looking at you Hera, you bitch.

“Percy, you swore on your life.” Hazel said, and she looked worried. “Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?”

“I’m not scared.” Percy said. We wrapped his arm around my shoulder (and shocking Yata) and pulled me close. “My bro Tsuna won’t let anything happen to me.”

I smiled and hugged him back. “Got that right. And if Romans keep vows seriously, then Octavian should be terrified of me right now.” We pulled apart and I got another good look at my new tattoo. I frowned and started rubbing it.

“Dude, stop.” Percy said.

“I can’t help it.” I admitted. “It’s so annoying. Gods I _hate_ tattoos. So unattractive.”

            We walked outside and looked to the sky. The ship was slowly getting closer, and looking grander as it did. Frank and Hazel walked a little ahead of us, wither for some alone time for themselves or to give me and Percy some time.

“So, what are you going to do Tsuna?” asked Percy.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’m going with you.”

“I figured, but I don’t want you to risk your life any more than you already have.” Percy said. “You’ve done so much for me since Hera kidnapped me. I just want you to be safe.”

“I can take care of myself Percy.” I said. “You should know that.”

“Tsuna, I do, but—”

“No buts.” I said. “I swore to Sally that I would bring you home. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth to keep that promise.” I looked away. “Besides, there’s something I have to do in Rome.”

“It’ll be dangerous Tsuna.” Percy said.

“That doesn’t scare me.” I said. “You know what I’ve been through.”

“That’s why I’m warning you.” said Percy. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you again.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen, at least as bad as Japan got.” I said.

“I guess there’s no stopping you, is there.” asked Percy.

“Not a chance.” I said.

Percy looked back up at the ship. “Think Annabeth’s up there?”

“There’s no doubt about it.” I smiled, before it fell from my face. I’m still pissed at Annabeth. “Speaking of your girlfriend Percy, I’m warning you now, that when I see Annabeth it’s…it’s going to get loud, to say the least.”

Percy chuckled. “You know Annabeth can kick your ass, right?”

I shrugged. “Probably, but I think I deserve to tear her a new one.”

“Whatever, it’ll be your funeral dude.” Percy said. “I just can’t wait to see her.”

“I know how you feel.” I said, although it was too quiet for him to here.

Percy ran to Frank and Hazel and threw an arm around them. “Come on guys.” he said smiling. “Let me introduce you to my other family.”

            The three of them walked towards the forum. I walked behind them at a slower pace. The ship was starting to descend slowly. It was my only way to get to Rome. I’ll be receiving Hera’s wrath, and Gaea’s too, and probably many others. As they said, I’m an interloper and I shouldn’t even be here. But they pretty much ensured my participation when they involved Percy and Nico. I will fight by Percy’s side in this war. I will do everything I can to keep him safe, and Annabeth, Frank and Hazel. And…I will save Nico, no matter the cost.

“Just wait Nico, I’ll be there soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated.
> 
> So, what did you guys think? A good way to end part four of the Umi no Musuko series?
> 
> Please stay tuned for the next entry to the series, and thank you for reading this story.
> 
> In the meantime, I also plan on continuing my PJ&O/HoO Superhero AU The Olympians sometime soon, so feel free to check that out if you so choose.


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